Friends Forever
by AgasaR
Summary: AU! While experimenting with his shadow clones, Naruto discovered one of Orochimaru's abandoned lab. (very slow updates)
1. The Artist

**Summary:** While experimenting with his shadow clones, Naruto discovered one of Orochimaru's abandoned lab.

 **Disclaimer:** Naruto is Kishimoto's.

 **AN:** This story has been in my mind for almost two years but I'd never gotten past the planning stage. Now, the plot outline is finally completed and it's time to begin the tedious task of writing this loooong story.

Before we start, I want to thank **GlidingOne** for her _wonderful_ suggestions and **DualInsanities222** , which is the dual account for **CuteCat213** and **Zoete9** , for their AMAZING, OUTSTANDING, SUPERB, SPLENDID proofreading. It's thanks to them that this story actually looked like a _story_ instead of a fantasy written by a six year old. They not just gave every sentence a thorough examination, but also pointed out the plot holes and wrong facts that I, someone who had only watched 200 episodes of Naruto, had made. Not only that, they also gave me ideas on how to make certain parts more interesting. PLEASE GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE! And check out their stories!

 **Note: Blame any mistakes you find on ME, not my wonderful beta-readers.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 The Artist**

He brought his hands down.

A splash. A wave.

The image of a lantern was completed as the the brush filled in an empty spot with yellow paint. The young boy plunged his brush into the murky water, wiped it on his stained smock, then dipped it into a daub of black paint on the wooden palette that was hooked onto his left thumb. He glanced at the dark starry sky in a moment of contentment before going back to his painting.

A sudden swish jolted him, causing his brush hand to sway. He frowned, annoyed at being interrupted. Just as he was about to return to his work, a thin sizzling streak shot straight up into the sky and exploded into thousands of sparks. His eyes widened at the sight of the glittering shower. It was his first time seeing fireworks.

Of course, this didn't mean that this was Konoha's first festival with fireworks involved; it was just that for the past few years, on the day of the Kyuubi festival, he was either hiding in his shabby apartment or being chased by mobs who only reluctantly stopped when the ANBU showed up. This young boy was nowhere near being a threat to Konoha. But because of the tenant living inside of him, biased people would see him and his tenant as one and the same.

Konoha's Jinchuuriki, the Kyuubi container, Uzumaki Naruto, sighed in contentment.

He was glad that he had heeded the Sandaime's advice, otherwise he would never have discovered the magnificence of fireworks. He'd only ever heard the fireworks going off in the background, but had never seen any with his own eyes.

Two years ago, when Naruto had still been the boisterous and obnoxious loudmouth who ran around Konoha causing troubles, the Sandaime would get dozens of complaints everyday regarding the blond's behavior. Hoping to change the boy's ways, he had suggested Naruto pick up a new, more tranquil habit to spend time on. It had taken Naruto a while to find something of interest.

Drawing, he learned, was relaxing. Whenever Naruto sat down and placed the tip of his pencil against the blank sheet of paper, he'd feel all the noises fading away and the tension leaving his body. It was difficult to complete a satisfying piece of art due to the necessity of high concentration and patience, but Naruto continued his hobby because he liked the satisfaction he'd feel whenever he'd completed a piece that he originally thought was too difficult.

In the two years since, Naruto had drawn hundreds of pictures. Their subjects ranging from people to animals to objects and landscapes. He started out with simply sketching the subject onto his sketchbook. Eventually, when he thought his skills had progressed to a decent level, he began teaching himself how to water-paint. Costs for the tools weren't a problem, since the Hokage would eagerly give him money when he mentioned he was in need of more equipment. Apparently, Sandaime was overjoyed when he noticed that Naruto's new hobby had indeed made him a calmer and more thoughtful person, which led to less complaints and less paperwork. And less paperwork was always a good thing.

It was his art hobby that led him onto his current location on Yondaime's nose and gave him something to do during the Kyuubi festival. He could have joined in the celebration if he wanted to, since his mastery of the henge allowed him to physically alter his appearance, but why celebrate alone when he could save the beautiful sight of bright lights from the lanterns creating exquisite patterns in an expanse of darkness onto the canvas so he could relish it whenever he needed solace?

Time passed by quickly. In the blink of an eye, the festival was over and Naruto's painting was complete. However, he remained on his spot, only wiggling a bit to remove the strain on his hunched back. He squinted his eyes at his painting.

"'Kyuubi festival'? No, too simple," Naruto murmured as he tapped his lower lip. "I need something more...meaningful."

The bright sparks of the fireworks stood out on the canvas. Naruto thought.

"'Sparks of Life.'" Naruto smiled at the sound of the name. He liked it.

Done with his work, Naruto packed his supplies swiftly, scratched his butt, and returned to his apartment.

* * *

Morning came too soon for his liking. Nonetheless, Naruto got up, reluctantly leaving the warmth of his bed, and started his morning routine. He had something to do today.

After getting dressed and eating three cups of ramen and downing a glass of chocolate milk, Naruto went to his storage room – a room not much bigger than a bathroom stall – and took out a painting that appeared in perfect condition. It was a painting of the Kyuubi festival he had done last year. The difference between this one and the one he'd finished yesterday was that this one didn't include fireworks.

He placed the painting on the ground carefully and took out a storage scroll he'd gained through a bargain with a retired shinobi months ago. Remembering what the shinobi had told him, Naruto laid the painting on the scroll and set his palms on each side, then pushed chakra into the scroll. The ink lit up and, with a pop, the painting disappeared, leaving the kanji "絵" (art) in the middle of the circle of unreadable characters. He slipped the scroll into his pocket and left for the Hokage tower.

It was still fairly early but the civilians were already up and moving about. Though careful with his strides, Naruto barely managed to avoid bumping into three rash boys who looked to be a few years older than he was. Two of them twisted out of his way before the collision, while the third one tripped before he could crash into the smaller boy.

 _Probably overwhelmed with my cuteness._ Naruto mused, but quickly bonked himself on the head. He really should lose his habit of staring at himself in the mirror so often. It was seriously unhealthy and gradually corrupting his mind. He didn't want to become a pervert like that strange, mask-wearing shinobi he saw who often walked around with his nose buried in an orange-covered book.

When Naruto had first begun learning about portraits, he'd started with self-portraits. And after staring at himself for so long, he realized...he was actually pretty cute! Round face, big (not-so) innocent cerulean eyes, kitten-like whisker marks, and a head of fluffy blond hair. How could anyone resist the temptation to hug such an adorable ball of cuteness!? Naruto swore, one day, he would learn that clone jutsu he'd seen ninjas use so often to clone himself then...snuggle them every night!

That way, he wouldn't be lonely anymore.

There was already a bunch of people waiting to meet with the Hokage when he arrived and Naruto quickly took his place at the end of the long line.

Bored, he decided to strike a conversation with the gray-haired teen standing in front of him.

"Hello!"

The boy turned around and looked startled when he saw who had spoken. The guarded look on his face left Naruto in despair, wondering if he was going to be hated by yet another person. To his surprise, the look only lasted a second before the older boy smiled. "Hello."

Warmth settled inside Naruto's stomach. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! What's your name?"

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto," Kabuto extended a hand, and Naruto eagerly shook it with all his might, probably too hard, but it was his first time shaking hands with another person.

"Yakushi? That's a strange name. Are you a medic?" (The meaning of "yakushi" is close to "medic")

There was a moment of silence before Kabuto spoke, a slightly annoyed tone to his voice, "What about you: do you like ramen?"

Naruto nodded vigorously, "I love it! I have at least six servings a day!"

Kabuto blinked in surprise, then chuckled indulgently, "Yes, I'm the medic on my genin team."

"Genin team? Don't medics only work at the hospital?"

"There're many jobs for medics. The hospital isn't the only place they're needed," Kabuto crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Naruto recognized the posture as the beginning of a long lecture. "Most medics work as a team with other ninjas so they can heal their teammates when they get injured. Medical ninjutsu -or Iryojutsu- can be offensive as well. It all depends on how you use it."

 _Well, that was short._ Naruto was glad; his attention span was short on anything that wasn't art-related.

"How can medical ninjutsu be offensive? Can't they only heal people?" If Kabuto's lectures were going to be short, then it wouldn't hurt to get more knowledge on the topic, especially if he was going to study this by himself later on. He would have to deal with large chunks of words in boring textbooks and long lectures from retired shinobi who had nothing better to do than to converse with a six year old.

"There's more to medical ninjutsu than healing. Just to name a few examples , you can use it to disable your opponent's chakra flow, emit poisonous smoke through your mouth, heal yourself and boost your strength and speed during a battle quickly…. And if you're good at it, you can even regenerate a limb with some advanced jutsu."

"What's a regenerate?"

"Regeneration," Kabuto corrected. "It means to regrow something, a limb in this case."

Naruto's jaw dropped. This was definitely something he had never heard of before. If regeneration was possible, then people who had lost a limb wouldn't have to use a prosthetic anymore. Limb regeneration wasn't something the Konoha hospital could perform, which meant this skill was _extremely_ advanced.

Before he could ask more, Kabuto's team was called into the Hokage's office. As he left, Kabuto gave Naruto a wave and a warm smile.

Naruto thought over what Kabuto said while he waited. Medical ninjutsu sure sounded rather useful. The limb regeneration especially hooked him. If Naruto could learn that skill, then…

 _Naruto swayed in his spot. The blood loss was blurring his vision._

 _"You're pathetic!" His enemy cried._

 _A disturbing grin crawled onto Naruto's face. "Regeneration Jutsu!" He shouted. The visible bone in the bloody stump of his amputated right arm grew as the flesh developed along with it. Within a second, the regeneration was completed and his arm looked as good as new._

 _His opponent looked ready to pee himself._

 _"Now, can you please repeat what you just said?"_

 _There was a silence, before his opponent fainted on the spot..._

Naruto almost drooled. _Now, how cool would THAT be!_

"Of course we'll make it. Stop doubting yourself!" A loud voice interrupted his thoughts.

Naruto turned and found the group behind him chastising the only female member of their party, who seemed to be cowed by their words.

"Hey, what's going on?"

They looked at Naruto, then one of the boys sneered, "Mind your own business, brat."

Well, Naruto _was_ only six, and he was rather short for his age, so the nickname did fit. But it didn't mean he liked it.

"Hey, don't call me that!" Naruto fumed, but the anger was quickly suppressed and his calmer side took over. "I'm just curious, what're you guys talking about?"

The older boy seemed to want to push more of his buttons, but the other one stepped in front of him and answered, "We're talking about the upcoming Chunin Exam that'll be held at Amegakure. Now please leave us alone." The group returned to their conversation after Naruto turned his back on them.

 _Chunin Exam huh?_ He'd heard about it a couple of times when he was with the Hokage. Apparently, children became Genin after they graduated the Academy. Then they took the Chunin Exam and became Chunin if they passed. The location of the Chunin Exam varied, but no matter what village it took place in, only ninjas from allied villages could participate. Same with the Jounin Exam.

Naruto was far too young to take the Chunin Exam. Hell, he hadn't even entered the Academy yet! Thus, he tuned out the conversation and let his mind wander to other things. Like Amegakure.

 _Since it's the Hidden Rain Village, it must rain a lot._ Naruto mused. _Glad I don't live there. I hate rain. It ruins my mood and I can't draw outside. Though staying inside and drawing the rain is fun._...When his work wasn't ruined by a drop of rain water that leaked through his ceiling, that was.

"Next!" A friendly-looking man called the last appointment of the morning as Kabuto's team walked out. Naruto waved at him amicably when they made eye contact and Kabuto waved back, smiling.

The friendly-looking man was the Hokage's secretary, whose name was something along the lines of Mitsukushi. Naruto couldn't quite remember since he tended to recall people's appearances rather than their names, a habit he'd picked up after observing people for so long to use them as art models. Hokage's secretary had changed three times in Naruto's life.

The first was a woman who had made him wait outside for over four hours with the lie that "Hokage-sama is busy," and being the naive brat Naruto had been, he'd accepted it without a doubt. The second was also a woman who had told him that the Sandaime was elsewhere and she would lead him to him, only to take him to the forest behind the tower where she would have beat him to death if not for an ANBU's intervention.

Apparently, Sandaime had decided that women couldn't be trusted; ergo, he hired a male secretary this last time. Naruto felt sorry for the old man since he could no longer drool over female secretaries' assets. He knew that the Hokage liked woman's big, bouncy breasts, because when he used the Hokage as a practice target for his Sexy Jutsu, the old man always ogled 'her' boobs for a full ten seconds before collapsing in a pool of blood.

Anyway, Mitsukushi (or whatever his name was) led Naruto into the office with a guiding hand on his back before he closed the door, leaving Naruto alone with the Hokage.

"Hello Naruto, how's your day?" The Sandaime greeted, taking his eyes off his paperwork. Talking with Naruto was always relaxing. The blond's energetic aura could make anyone's day go from bad to good...and sometimes to worse.

"I'm doing great, Jiji! I need your help again." Naruto took out the storage scroll and unsealed his painting. He handed it to the wide-eyed old man, since there was no room to place it on the table, and stepped back, grinning proudly.

"Wow, Naruto, this is beautiful," Sarutobi smiled, eyes crinkling warmly.

"I painted this last year actually, during the Kyuubi festival," Naruto said. "But because I missed the fireworks last year, I drew another one this year with the fireworks. However, I'm keeping that for myself. Heehee."

"You're truly a little prodigy when it comes to art. If you drew this last year, I fear to know how good the painting you did yesterday must be." The two shared a laugh. "But no matter how good, no painting is better than the self-portrait I received on my birthday a few months ago. Thank you again, Naruto."

"No biggie, old man. It's thanks to you that I picked up this hobby. Without your advice, I'd never have discovered the wonder of art." Naruto added, "Oh, and thanks for the birthday present you gave me yesterday." He took out a green frog wallet and held it to his face, rubbing his cheek against its soft cotton material. "I decided to name it 'Gama-chan'!"

"No need to thank me. It's my duty to take care of you, and ensure that you have a happy birthday every year." Sarutobi coughed. "Anyway, back to business. This is the new painting you want me handle the processing for, correct?"

"Yeah."

"What's its name?"

"'Dance of Happiness.'" Naruto blurted out. "You see, the lights of the lanterns stand out in the darkness. Even from far away, you can tell people are having fun and are happy with the celebration just by seeing the bright lights. That's why I named it that."

"A beautiful name, Naruto," Sarutobi commented. "Very insightful. You've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

"Yeah, well, can't have the villagers think of the new me as an idiot . It'll lower my repetition and I'll lose my fans. This is a prefre...sion...nal job and I can't take it lightly."

The Hokage chuckled at Naruto's mispronunciation but didn't bother to correct him. "Indeed."

"By the way, Jiji, can you teach me some medical ninjutsu?"

The Hokage stared at him in surprise, "Why all of a sudden?"

"I talked to this Kabuto guy while we were waiting and he told me how useful it can be. And I wanted to learn it."

Sarutobi sighed. "Medical ninjutsu is difficult even for Genin, and you aren't even an Academy student yet."

"But I've already mastered the Henge!"

"That's a basic Academy Jutsu. It's on a whole different level in comparison to medical ninjutsu." He observed the boy's unwavering gaze before sighing once again. "You're not going to leave unless I say 'yes', are you?"

He was rewarded with a big grin.

"Very well." Sarutobi signaled one of his ANBU hidden in the room and told the chicken-masked man something quietly. The ANBU jumped out of his window, and he sighed. "Why can't they use the door..."

"Because they're shinobi?" Naruto offered. He sweat-dropped at the deadpan expression the Hokage threw him. _Wrong answer…_

"Naruto," Sarutobi said and the blond straightened up. "I will allow you to learn medical jutsu under one condition."

"What, what?"

"Learn the tree-climbing exercise within a week."

"But I already know how to climb a tree!"

"Without your hands?"

Naruto blinked.

Chuckling, Sarutobi got up and went to the nearest wall. Naruto watched with wide eyes as the old man placed a foot onto the wall, then the other foot, then began walking up the wall, across the ceiling, and down the other wall. The whole time Naruto stood awestruck.

"This is called the Tree-Climbing Exercise. Though you're obviously supposed to practice it on a tree."

"Wow… That is so cool!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards a wall. He eagerly placed a foot onto the wall, and another- only to fall on his bottom.

"You're supposed to syphon chakra down to your feet. The amount of chakra you use determines whether you fall or not. That's why this is a great way to increase your chakra control."

"Dammit! I won't give up!" Naruto exclaimed and tried again.

When he fell the twentieth time, Naruto groaned, too tired to get up or do anything other than roll onto his stomach to get a look at the Hokage. The old man wasn't watching him anymore, but was frowning at his mountain of paperwork. An idea suddenly came to Naruto.

"Jiji, why don't you use the Clone Jutsu to help you with paperwork?" Naruto wondered out loud.

Sarutobi immediately face-palmed. "I'm such an idiot." He then did an unfamiliar hand sign that was shaped like a cross and murmured " _Shadow Clone Jutsu_." Three identical copies of the Hokage appeared right next to him. "Well, get to work." His clones groaned but began nonetheless. The original cackled like he had just seen his first ray of sunshine after forty years in prison.

"...Wow."

Sarutobi raised his brows. "What's the matter, Naruto?"

Naruto sat up, "That jutsu...the Shadow Clone Jutsu...can you teach it to me?"

"This is a B-ranked ninjutsu. It would be far too hard for you."

"It won't be! You know I won't give up on something I set my sights on until I get it right." Naruto's eyes gleamed with determination. "Please teach me that jutsu."

"And may I ask why?"

"So I can hug it at night."

Sarutobi blinked. Naruto copied the movement. _Wrong answer again?_

"Ugh, well, I also want to use it for my art model. You know, it's really hard to find a good model who has the time, patience, and mind to deal with me. But with a clone, I can make it transform into whoever I want and tell it to pose however I want. It'll make my work a lot easier."

Apparently this was the correct answer, the Hokage seemed to ponder the idea. Naruto discreetly crossed his fingers.

"Alright, I'll teach you the jutsu. With your chakra, this shouldn't be too hard for you."

Naruto punched his fist into the air and shouted, "YES!"

Sarutobi smiled fondly, picked up an empty scroll from his desk, and wrote the directions for the jutsu. Handing it to the boy, he warned, "Use it wisely. Don't do something I wouldn't do twice."

Naruto grinned and accepted the scroll with trembling fingers. "You can count on me, Jiji!"

At that moment, the chicken-masked ANBU appeared at the window, causing the Hokage to complain once more about 'ninjas and doors.' The ANBU walked right past the three hardworking clones without a glance and handed the scroll to his superior wordlessly, then vanished as swiftly as he had appeared.

"Let's see..." Sarutobi looked down at the scroll with Naruto peering curiously over his arms. "'Basic Medical Ninjutsu.' It contains all the basics you'll need to get started in this field. This is not an easy scroll, especially for someone with a large amount of chakra like you."

"How does the amount of chakra matter? Isn't it better if you have more chakra? You said last time if you pour more chakra into that fireball jutsu those damn Uchiha love to use, you'll get a bigger and more powerful fireball. Isn't that right?"

"That is true, but medical ninjutsu is different. It requires extremely good chakra control. And the more chakra you have, the less control you have over it. You understand that right?" Naruto nodded. It was the same as the more ramen you had, the less control you had over yourself...wait. That wasn't right. "That's why you need to practice your chakra control before you can learn medical ninjutsu. Exercises like tree-walking and meditation help."

Naruto knew what meditation was. That was what Sarutobi had originally told him to do to try and tone down his exuberant behavior, but it hadn't worked. He almost always fell asleep five minutes into the practice. It was after that that Sarutobi suggested he pick up a more tranquil hobby, and Naruto was introduced to the world of art.

Suddenly, with a poof, the medical scroll vanished, leaving Naruto gaping wordlessly at the Hokage's empty hand. "If you can complete the Tree-Climbing exercise within a week, this scroll is yours."

Naruto sighed and looked up with determined eyes, "Just you wait, Jiji. I'll show you nothing is too hard for Uzumaki Naruto!" His stomach chose that moment to voice its complaint. "Well, guess I'll see you later. I can't leave my stomach alone for too long or else it'll eat me alive."

Sarutobi chuckled at the joke, along with his three clones.

"See ya, Jiji! Don't forget to handle the processing for my painting!" Naruto called out and slammed the door close.

* * *

"Mmmmhmmmm! Yummy!" Naruto cried at the amazing taste of ramen. His cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk's, but he continued to stuff more into his mouth.

Ayame and Teuchi both smiled fondly at their youngest customer, their eyes glistening at the gradually increasing stack of ramen bowls. They just needed to have their pupils replaced with money symbols to complete the image of two sly traders.

"More!" Naruto handed, more like shoved, the empty bowl into Ayame's face, but the older girl didn't care. Her mind was too filled with the idea of becoming rich, marrying a cute guy, and living a life of luxury.

As Naruto waited for his fourteenth bowl, two older men stumbled into the booth. They sat two seats away from him, but the blond could still hear their conversation.

"Man, I wish I could visit Amegakure. My friend's son is entering this upcoming Chunin Exam," one of the men grumbled after ordering a miso ramen. "If I can go with them, then I can get free protection from bandits _and_ see what the world outside of Konoha is like."

"I heard that you have to be a relative in order to accompany the Genin team." The other man ordered a pork ramen, at the same time a pork ramen was placed in front of Naruto, and said, "If only we were ninja, then we could transform ourselves into cats or something, and sneak into the village."

Naruto listened closely as he began wolfing down his ramen. Sometimes, the best inspiration came from conversations and observations.

"You idiot. Henge isn't physical, it's an illusion. Those guards would be able to see through your false appearance."

 _Physical? What does he mean 'not physical'? My henge is always a physical transformation._

"Or we could hide in a merchant's wagon and sneak through."

"They check the wagons before the merchants leave, you dumbass."

The pork man sighed, "So there really are no other ways to see the Exams? I've never left Konoha in my entire life. I'd like to see what the other villages are like for a change."

The miso man agreed, "Same here. I heard that Sunagakure has really hot women. I've stayed single up to this point in my life just so I can leave the village and marry some hot, foreign chick. But even I wouldn't pay ninjas to escort me to Suna just so I can knock up some chicks. What was I thinking when I refused to go to Ninja Academy when I had the chance? Dammit!" He punched the table, rattling the ramen bowls a little. Naruto was glad that Teuchi had already taken away his high stack of bowls, otherwise he would've had a lot to pay for.

"But it was too late. Because of one wrong choice we made in our childhood, we are forever bound to Konoha. Never to be able to see the outside world."

Naruto couldn't help but nod his head. He also wanted to see what the world outside of Konoha was like. Did Amegakure ever have a sunny day? Was Sunagakure really covered in sand, like its name suggested? Were Iwa nins all ruthless and evil, like some Konoha war veterans claimed? What would an ocean look like?

Those thoughts were making his hand twitch involuntarily, eager to get a hold of a pen or brush. Naruto quickly grabbed his chopsticks and went back to eating.

He had to repress those thoughts. Because before he became a Genin, he wasn't allowed to leave Konoha, which meant he couldn't see what ocean looked like to draw it. And what had these men said again? Even the henge couldn't get him past the guards because it was an illu-

 _Wait._

Naruto put the chopsticks down.

His henge _wasn't_ an illusion! It was a physical transformation, somehow. He didn't understand why his henge was different than the ones these men were talking about. Was it because he'd learned it by watching ninja perform and trying to copy the hand seals? Did he copy the hand seals wrong?

Well, it didn't matter if he did it wrong or not, because his physical version was way better than a mere illusion. And he could use it to his advantage.

As Naruto started on his last bowl of pork ramen, a wicked plan began forming in his head.

"By the way, did you hear? Eishi-sama's new artwork is coming out!" The miso man exclaimed.

Naruto perked up at the mention of his artist persona. It was the name he'd taken when he first started selling his drawings for a living. With shopkeepers constantly charging him twice as much as the standard prices, Naruto had been forced to think of a way to earn money. When he discovered his talent for art, he decided to become an artist as a part-time job of sorts. He'd been was too young to understand how the whole thing worked -in all honesty, he was still too young- so he'd told the Hokage his idea and left everything for the old man to arrange. With the Hokage's help, the matter became a lot easier. Naruto only needed to turn in his work to the Sandaime, and he would take care of the rest (and money would flow into Naruto's pockets, though now it would be into Gama-chan).

His popularity had risen to incredible heights, so much higher than Naruto had ever expected. His artwork was well-known among civilians and shinobi alike. In a world of flower vases and stiff family portraits, Naruto's paintings were singularly unique.

Without much to draw about (not that he could draw in public because he would be interrupted by strolling pedestrians, or ninjas jumping from roof to roof), Naruto often drew at night or inside the safety of his apartment. Because of it, he'd learned that even the smallest and least important things could be the subject of an art piece. Such as a single drop of water, a cracked window pane that was home to a spiderweb that glittered in the sun, a pair of old slippers housing a small mouse, a broken alarm clock, an empty sink... Not many pieces in the art community were of such trivial subjects, and that was part of the reason "Eishi's" work had become so famous.

Perhaps he should paint a bowl of ramen next time, Naruto mused.

He placed his chopsticks down and wiped his mouth clean with a napkin.

Time to go home and work on some jutsu.

* * *

 **AN:** Naruto: 6 y/o

Kabuto: around 13 y/o

Eishi basically means an 'Artist' (or 'Master of Art' if you like it this way). 'Ei' means art, and 'shi' means master.

Chapter 2 will be posted as soon as I finish Chapter 3.


	2. The Discovery

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

 **AN:** Once again, a _big_ thank to **DualInsanities222** for fixing this chapter.

 **Note: Blame any mistakes you find on ME, not my wonderful beta-readers.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 The Discovery**

Entering his apartment, Naruto let out a loud 'burp', filling the air with the smell of ramen. He patted his round belly and sighed in satisfaction as he lay on his bed, closing his eyes, not feeling up to doing... anything in particular.

After a few minutes of lazing, he got up with a groan and decided to take a look at the scroll. He didn't feel like falling down a tree at the moment so he unrolled the scroll for the Shadow Clone Jutsu and began reading the Hokage's messy writing with difficulty. From time to time, he'd have to pause and look up a word in his worn dictionary. From what he could decipher from the scrawl, there was only one hand seal required: the 'cross' sign. The user could also use a tiger seal, though it would increase the difficulty.

The instructions seemed fairly easy, so Naruto eagerly got to work. It didn't take as long as he expected. Apparently, the large amount of chakra he possessed made this jutsu much easier to perform. After thirty minutes of practice, he could finally produce a couple decent clones who weren't ghostly pale or puking all over his porcelain floor.

"Yosh! Let's try out this technique outside."

Naruto jumped out of his window and made his way to one of the training grounds. Most of the training grounds were occupied with genin teams. It would be a pain if they found him, not yet an academy student, entering such a dangerous place where weapons sailing through the air was the norm. It could kill a civilian in an instant if he or she wasn't aware. If Naruto was found, he would probably be taken to the Hokage. And though the Hokage would excuse him, he would have to waste a lot of his precious time on the matter. ... _If_ he were caught.

After weeks of keen observations, Naruto had discovered that the only field that was always empty was the perimeter around Training Ground #44. It was where Naruto had gone to practice landscape-drawing for the first time.

When he arrived, no one was there as to be expected. Naruto looked around. There were a couple dents and craters here and there, a few kunai and shuriken scattered around, and about a dozen dango sticks piercing the tree to his right. All in all, the field looked rarely used in comparison to some of the other training grounds.

To the left of him was a river streaming through the metallic fence ahead of him that bore the signs "WARNING" and "Entrance Prohibited." A gate numbered 15 was bounded tightly by chains. Behind the fence was a _huge_ tree that looked to be on equal width as the Hokage Tower. The entire area gave off an uncanny feeling, forcing fear and a voice that screamed for him to get away into his mind.

Naruto stood in the middle of the field, staring at the gate with profound contemplation, and formed the hand seal.

" _Shadow Clone Jutsu_!" As smoke rose from the ground, ten clones popped into existence. Naruto coughed as he inhaled some of the smokes. He reminded himself to find a way to get rid of the smoke in the future.

Staring at his clones awkwardly, Naruto asked, "Hey guys, just making sure, when you get hurt, the injury won't transfer onto me, right?"

One of his clones nodded. "Yeah, I don't think so. Which means-"

"You guys can enter the the Forest of Death without fear of dying," Naruto finished. He'd been wanting to see how scary the Forest of Death must be in order to receive that name, but he was too afraid to enter it. He wasn't ready to die yet.

But with the Shadow Clone Jutsu, Naruto could just let his clones do the adventuring and he would get the memories of the experience afterwards. He had discovered that clones would transfer their memories and experience onto the original after he hugged a clone with all his might and sent both of them crashing onto the ground. When the clone dispelled, Naruto received a huge pain on the back of his head despite the fact that there was no bump there. Perhaps he should be more careful when hugging his clones...

"That's what I was thinking," another clone voiced.

"We know, since we ARE you, idiot."

"Hey! Who're you calling an idiot, idiot!?"

"What did you just say!?"

"Stop!" Naruto the original hollered. "You are all me and we are all idiots! Satisfied?"

The clones grumbled in agreement.

"Alright. Here goes the plan. You go in, look around, and pop when you've seen enough. Sound easy?"

"Yeah, easy when you say it. You're not the one who's going into this," the clone shivered, "scary place, nor are you the one who might get eaten by a horde of hungry, thousand-year old vampires."

"Don't they only drink blood?" another whispered.

"But that's what makes it interesting! Anything could be in there! Monsters, unicorns... Wouldn't you want to know?" Naruto cried.

"I agree," a clone raised his hand. "It's not like we'll really die. Why not go check it out? After all, we didn't know the wonder of art until after we tried it. So we should try this out first before we assume the worst."

"Alright, so who agrees with me?" Nine out of ten raised their hands. The original smirked, "Well then, I guess I'll just dispel the only one not agreeing."

The moment the words left his mouth, the leftover clone stomped his feet and glowered, "Fine! I'll do it. I-it's not like I'm afraid of death!"

The nine clones including the original snickered while the leftover one fumed silently.

"Alright boys! If you're all ready, let's go!"

The clones climbed over the tall fence carefully, with one dragging a reluctant clone with him, and disappeared from Naruto's view.

Not sure what to do, Naruto strolled around, picking up weapons on the ground and trying to throw them, only to have them bounce off the tree harmlessly. He scowled. _How the hell do you throw a kunai again?_

He then remembered the tree-climbing exercise. There were dozens of trees in this area, making this a perfect spot to practice. Grinning, Naruto went to a nearby tree and began practicing.

Thirty minutes into his activity, Naruto was going out of his mind. He wanted to know what was going on in the forest, dammit! He considered entering the forest himself, but quickly bonked the idea out of his head. He had just firmly established he didn't want to die. Didn't he see how there had never been anyone who came to this training ground in comparison to the other ones? Wasn't that enough to convince himself that it was due to the fact that this forest was _dangerous_?

Before he could convince himself to do something terminally stupid, a flash of images rolled into his mind. Like a film strip, scene after scene flashed before his eyes. Naruto saw himself accidentally stumbling upon a gigantic snake who ate him and another clone. In a state of panic, they cried out the newest jutsu he'd just learned, and the snake exploded into a shower of organs and crimson blood and what must have been over a hundred Naruto clones.

After rinsing themselves in the nearby river, they returned to the snake's corpse and discovered a discrete hole hidden by the shadows of an enormous tree, presumably where the snake had rested. Curious, they crawled inside one by one, only to slide down the slimy tunnel and fall into what seemed like a bottomless pit. Most of the clones dispersed upon impact with the ground, but some survived by landing on top of other clones. The clone whose memory Naruto had just gotten was unfortunate enough to fall just slightly too far away from the pile.

Naruto stood up and dusted his pants off. An excited grin plastered itself on his face. A hideout? A _giaaaant_ snake? Now _this_ was the fun he'd been seeking. The Forest of Death was truly an eye-opener. The eerie atmosphere of the forest could be a new theme for his future paintings. And if there existed a snake that was over thirty feet in length, what else could possibly live within the forest? What else could pose as a subject for Naruto's art?

Thrilled at the thoughts of exploring more of the forest, Naruto went back home at a speed no one watching would have thought possible and returned with a long, tough bundle of rope. The rope was quite heavy for a six year old, but Naruto ground his teeth and managed his way over to the snake's corpse, with the help of his clone's memories of the directions.

The skin was still warm, Naruto noticed when he placed his hand on the scales, which thankfully meant no maggots or flies… yet. He wondered if there were any jutsu that could preserve corpses.

Walking around the corpse, his nose twitching at the awful odor, Naruto bent down and peered into the dark hole. He heard nothing. The hole was indeed hidden very discretely. If Naruto hadn't been actively searching for it, he would have missed it.

Spreading the rope along the ground, Naruto secured it around the base of the tree trunk three times, making sure it was tight enough and hidden under the bushes before making a death knot. He then tied the other end around his waist and bravely slipped into the hole, wincing when the slime got on his clothes and skin.

While he was sliding down, Naruto fretted over the possibility that this rope was either not long enough and he would have to go back and get a longer one, or too long and it would do more harm than good. But thankfully, the rope was just the right length and his feet dangled about a foot above the stone tiles. He sighed in relief.

However, the anxiety didn't leave him until he had untied the knot around his waist and his feet touched the ground, confirming his safe landing.

"Took you long enough!" His voice called out. Naruto looked over and found one of his clones waiting for him at the entrance of some pathway. He had still not gotten used to hearing his own voice talking back to him.

"So how many of you died?"

The clone counted off his fingers. Naruto took the time to observe him. His hair was still wet and flattened, and he was in his dampened white t-shirt with the red spiral in the front. "When we got eaten by the snake, we created about a hundred clones… each. His clones went first but they all died when they hit the ground… Then the later ones landed on a pile of clones before the pile dispersed… Me and the other clone went last, but he was unfortunate enough to miss the pile. So I guess there's about fifty left."

Deep in his mind, Naruto had an inkling that he was missing something, but he didn't know what at the moment. He decided to file away his suspicion for later.

"And what did you guys find? What's in this place?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about," the clone replied as he guided Naruto through the dark pathway. The tunnel looked to be over ten years old at least. There were spider webs all over the stone wall and slime across the ground. _This is probably where the snake lived…_ Naruto thought.

Their walk was silent. At the end of the hallway stood a metal door, ominous but well-maintained. Naruto suspected that whoever created this place visited frequently, but the memory of the snake changed his mind. The person probably left the snake to guard this hole, to protect whatever treasure he had hidden behind this door, until the day he returned to claim what was rightfully his.

Naruto felt guilty for unearthing someone else's treasure, but his curiosity overruled his morals and his hand reached for the door without his consent, pushing it open.

* * *

A mob of sun kissed blond hair whizzed through the bushes, a white streak at its heels.

"What the hell is that thing?!" The clone leading the escape cried in between heavy pants.

"How should I know!?" His partner yelled. "It's like that insect with a dozen feet except _much_ bigger!"

"This is all your fault! Did you have to pee at its hiding spot!? Couldn't you have chosen somewhere, I don't know, more _empty_?!"

"Well, I can't help it!"

The leading clone glanced back with frightened eyes, and quickly turned back, forcing his short legs to move faster.

"Dammit! This is why I didn't want to enter this place! This thing is worse than vampires!" He suddenly stopped the sprint and dove into the bushes to his right. The other clone looked at him in surprise and followed his movements.

"What're you doing?"

"Don't follow me, you idiot!" the first clone yelled, red-faced. "Stay away from me so the monster won't chase after both of us!"

"Are you telling me to be the bait!?"

"If you heard me right then the answer should be obvious."

"Fuck you!" The bait grabbed his companion's collar and threw him off balance.

"What the hell!"

The bait clicked his tongue in distaste when the other merely sprang back onto his feet.

Both of them paused their bickering when they heard the rustling sound of tiny little feet scraping against the leaves on the forest ground getting closer and closer.

A sinking feeling of panic swept over them. The bait whimpered.

"I don't want to die!"

His companion choked back a sob. "I don't want to, either!"

Just when the both of them were about to cry in hopelessness and fear, they saw two familiar figures in a distance ahead of them.

"Help! Help!"

The two figures stood up and their eyes widened at the sight. As the two running clones shortened the distance, the appearance of the two figures became clear. They had the same sun-kissed blond hair. As the clones ran past them, they flickered their gazes at the giant centipede, and hurriedly joined the run.

"Dammit! Why does it _have_ to be you two! We're so doomed!"

"Just what did you get yourselves into!?"

"Eww, what is that thing!"

"How should I know? Just shut up and _move_! I'm running out of breath!"

Indeed, the two earliest clones were having trouble keeping pace. Their legs felt like lead, weighing and slowing them down. Time after time they would stumble over their feet and the others would have to drag them upright to continue the scramble.

"We need to find a way to kill that thing before it kills us!"

One clone who had been keeping quiet suddenly spoke, "Do you guys think this would work?" As the others' gazes landed on him, he took out a piece of white, rectangle-shaped paper with red borders. It had strange markings surrounding a circle with an unknown kanji in the middle. The edge of the paper looked a bit smudged, like a shirt getting caught on fire which was quickly put out and leaving a blackened stain.

"Where did you get that?"

"We found it on the ground a while ago. There were weapons all around it, probably leftovers from a fight."

"I saw that... in a weapon shop, once."

"Dangerous, then. How do we use it?" He asked shortly.

The silence lasted for a minute. They were slowing down; they needed to come to a decision quickly.

"Try chakra!" One clone shouted. "The marking...looks like the one…on the storage scroll. Maybe… works like one, too." He panted.

The clones traded glances. A decision was made.

"No choice. Let's try."

"Yeah."

"Agreed."

Nodding in consensus, the clone held the paper in between his fingertips and slowly pushed chakra into the small slip of paper. A few seconds later, the paper suddenly lid up. An ominous feeling washed over him, and he hastily threw the paper back toward the approaching centipede.

What happened next would be engraved in their minds forever. Due to the speed of the chase, the centipede ran right over the explosive tag, causing the detonation to happen directly under the soft side of its body. The blast blew apart its trunk segments, organs and blood showering down onto the poor clones.

The four six-year-olds stood there in shock as crimson fluid rained down upon them, soaking them from head to toe. The organs and broken body parts made loud, fleshy 'thud' noises as they dropped onto the bloody ground, the sound snapping the clones out of their stupor. They glanced at each other, and, like a switch being flipped, they all began crying at once.

The sobbing continued for a while until one clone slowed to a stop, and pulling themselves together, the other clones trailed off, too. Their tears were dry but the haunted looks didn't leave their faces. They glanced at each other and one forced a nervous laugh.

"Ha, you're all soaked in blood!"

"H-haha."

"Ahaha..."

The forced humor didn't last long. As one, they sighed.

"Let's go home."

"Yeah, boss is still waiting for us."

They began trudging back the way they came.

* * *

The first thing Naruto saw was a horde of yellow and white blurs darting around.

The next thing he noticed was how new the place looked; it was as if it had never been touched!

Naruto backed away and scrutinized the metal door.

"What's the matter, boss?"

He ignored the clone and directed his gaze downward. _There!_ At the bottom left corner of the door, there was a broken paper seal. Naruto stared at it with a frown. _The markings are similar to the ones on the storage scroll. I wonder what it's for._ He tore it off and kept it inside his pocket. _Maybe it's what keeps this place looking brand new. I'll have to ask Marumaru-jiichan sometimes._

"Let's ask Marumaru-jiichan when we get back," the clone offered, as if reading his mind.

"Yeah."

They stepped into the room and Naruto was immediately bombarded with remarks from his clones.

"Boss! You're finally here!"

"You gotta see this! I can't believe it!"

"There're children! Even younger than us!"

"And they're naked!"

"The writing is messy...I can't understand it..."

"There are EYEBALLS! I'm telling you, EYEBALLS!"

Overwhelmed with the sight, Naruto dispelled the present clones all at once, save for the one beside him.

"Ah!" The clone beside him suddenly clutched his head in pain, collapsing onto the ground. Naruto hurried to his side.

"H-hey! What's going on? Are you alright?!"

The clone winced at the loud voice.

"Please don't shout directly into my ear..."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, so are you alright? What just happened?"

"It feels like a thousand bears just ran over my head," the clone groaned as he sat up slowly with his boss's help. "When you got rid of the other clones, all their memories flooded my mind. It makes me want to puke…"

The earlier inkling returned and Naruto narrowed his eyes, finally realizing what was going wrong. When the two clones of his created more clones, the memories and experience of those clones returned to the clones who made them, instead of the original. And when the creator clone dispersed, that was when Naruto got all the memories.

Naruto sighed and decided to examine the issue later.

"So what memories have you seen? What did the other clones find out?"

The clone opened his eyes and explained, "This place is strange. There's lots of weird looking equipment and tanks filled with naked children and green water. But the disgusting thing is," he frowned and pointed at a shelf full of jars and large containers, "There are body parts inside those containers, and for some reason, they don't look rotten. I think the green water somehow keeps them from rotting."

Naruto made a face.

"And in the other room," the clone pointed to a slightly ajar door to the far right. "There are lots of books and scrolls, like a mini-library! And most of them are medical-related!"

Naruto's eyes glimmered with hope. "Did they find any scrolls that have the regeneration jutsu?"

"No. They only had time to look through a few before you came, 'cause there are way too many."

"Either way, we have this whole place to ourselves right now, and I doubt the owner (whoever he is) will return anytime soon. Let's look around a bit."

The clone nodded in agreement and they parted. Naruto went to the mini-library first. Books and scrolls were spread across the metal ground, which _probably_ wasn't how they were originally stored. He grabbed a random scroll and sat down, reading the title.

"Nervous System Runpture? What the hell is a nervous system?" Naruto tossed the scroll away and picked up another one. "Dead Soul Jutsu? Seems disgusting, but being able to control a corpse sounds pretty cool!" He placed the scroll aside and picked up another one. "Healing Jutsu? Sounds simple." He glanced at the rank. "A-RANKED!? That's way too hard for me!"

Naruto leaned back and lay down, closing his eyes. "There's no way I can learn these advanced jutsu at the moment. I have to learn the basics first. But before that, I need to learn the tree-climbing exercise." He sighed, "Troublesome."

A high-pitched scream pierced his eardrums, followed by the sound of a splash. Alarmed, Naruto shot to his feet and dashed out the door.

The scene he came upon made him stop in his tracks and burst out laughing.

"Shrof raufing 'n' gef me arf! (Stop laughing and get me out!)"

Naruto just laughed even more. "How did you even get in there?"

The panicking clone was stuck in one of the unoccupied glass tanks that had a thick metal rod hooking its lid to the ceiling and an intricate contraption around the bottom of the tank. The metal lid was lifted by the extensible rod that had multiple wires wrapped around it, providing a space large enough to slide a body in. The tank was over three meters high, yet the green liquid only reached at most 2.5 meters, still too high for the clone's hands to grab onto the edge of the tank.

"I mushed a muffin! (I pushed a button!)" The clone garbled as water began filling his lungs. Finally realizing the danger of the situation, the first thought Naruto had wasn't to dispel his clone, but to save his friend.

Glancing at the direction the clone was pointing at, Naruto saw the console with tiny buttons on it. The two currently lit up had the kanji "開 (open)" and "始 (start)." Their counterparts "閉 (close)" and "終 (end)" were dimmed.

Hoping to get rid of the green liquid, Naruto pressed "終 (end)."

Big mistake.

All the lights went off.

"You ishiot! (You idiot!)" shouted the clone.

"Sorry!"

Naruto quickly pressed "始 (start)" and the lights went on again.

 _Alright, I guess I shouldn't press random buttons. Let's try another way._

Looking around, Naruto noticed that the tanks were all linked to the ones next to them through a thick tube. The one next to his clone contained a naked boy who looked around the same age as Naruto. He had black, spiky hair, and fair skin, looking a bit like Naruto himself without the blond hair and whiskers. Cords and tubes were entangling around his torso. His lips were slightly parted, allowing the green liquid free reign into the warm cavern. Naruto wondered if he was still alive.

"Hurray arf! (Hurry up!)" The clone cried desperately.

Naruto tore his gaze away from the boy and went to the tank that contained his clone, scanning the machinery and trying to find a way to get his friend out of his confinement. The top of the tank was too high for Naruto to reach, and there was nothing on the contraption that showed to be useful in either getting rid of the liquid or getting his clone out. Unsure of what to do now, Naruto focused his gaze at the center of the tank.

A dent caught his eyes.

Moving closer, Naruto examined the dent. It appeared to be not-a-dent, but a carving of a circle with a kanji in the middle of it on the metal frame that went along the length of the tank. It looked like "始 (start)". Remembering the similar design on the storage scroll and the seal on the door, Naruto placed his hands on the carving and, mentally crossing his fingers, slowly pushed chakra into it.

The clone was oddly silent.

Tearing his gaze away from his hands, Naruto saw multiple cords and tubes descending from the top of the tank and wrapping themselves around the now unconscious clone. His eyes were closed and his body was limp. Panicking, Naruto subconsciously pushed more chakra into the carving. The contraption slowly lit up.

"You want more? I'll give you more!" With a roar, a surge of blue chakra burst out of Naruto's body and towards his hands, like it was being sucked in. Now the contraption was fully lit, but the tank was still dim. "Dammit!"

Drawing more chakra out of his system, Naruto didn't notice his body was shrouded in red chakra and the whiskers on his face had grown more feral.

" **Arghhhhhhh!** " Naruto roared and literally shoved the demonic chakra into the machine. Like a row of dominoes, the light from the contraption crawled up the tank, towards the lid, across the thick tube to the tank that held the naked boy, and down to its contraption. The two connected machines flared with an intense light, blinding Naruto and causing him to stumble over his feet and land flat on his back.

The light remained for a full minute before slowly dimming and everything returned to normal. Naruto slowly cracked open an eye, only for both to fly open when he registered the scene.

His clone was still in the tank, his body floating lifelessly in the liquid.

Naruto choked on his saliva, his eyes starting to burn.

He remembered the first clone he had successfully created, how he was so happy he threw himself at the clone, only to find it dispersing, leaving Naruto alone in his apartment again. He remembered the joy he felt when he realized that he could now create clones to be his friends, so he didn't have to be alone again.

Seeing a clone disperse was like losing a friend. What had just happened was even worse. Naruto had let his friend die without lending a helping hand. Guilt washed over him. Naruto swayed on his feet, his head too heavy to keep up…

* * *

A feeling of foreboding washed over him. Sarutobi and his three clones went to his window, a pensive look on his face as he thought over the familiar feeling.

 _I remember this feeling...from six years ago…_

 _The Kyuubi!_

He widened his eyes. _What has Naruto done this time?!_

"You three, keep working," he ordered as he body-flickered away, leaving three worried clones.

The Kyuubi's chakra came from, surprisingly, the Forest of Death. But when he arrived at Training Ground #44, the unsettling aura was gone. Frowning, Sarutobi walked toward gate 15 and was about to enter when four short figures dashed over the fence. Four blood-soaked figures.

"Jiji!" Chorused four voices as their respective owners halted in front of the old man.

Said old man stared wide-eyed at his favorite orphan(s). "What did you just do, Naruto?"

The Narutos exchanged glances and one of them stepped forward. Sarutobi supposed that he was the original.

"Well, I decided to have a little adventure," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"By entering the Forest of _Death_?" Sarutobi's voice was level, but the stern tone in it made all the Narutos shiver.

"W-well, you see, since when my clones die, their injuries don't transfer onto me, I thought I could let them take a look at the forest, which is something I've always wanted to do."

The clones quickly bobbed their heads up and down.

"And what did you just do in the forest?" Sarutobi gestured to their bloody appearance.

"W-well...we fought a centipede?"

Two eyebrows were raised.

"And did you use...that power?"

The Narutos blinked. "What power?"

Sarutobi sighed.

"Sorry..." mumbled four voices.

Seeing the boys cringing under his glare and looking remorseful, Sarutobi exhaled a long, deep breath, and said, "Go home and get washed up. Meet me in the Hokage Tower in thirty minutes and I'll explain the rest to you."

"Aye aye sir!"

The boys dashed away, leaving the old man shaking his head in amusement— and worry.

* * *

"Guahh!"

A foreign voice pulled Naruto back to the land of living. He blinked confusedly at his clone. _He's still dead, so who…_

"Wha' are hell? Rosh? (What the hell? Boss?)"

Hearing the foreign voice call him "boss" made him twitch uncomfortably. Naruto almost robotically shifted his gaze onto the naked black-haired boy who was desperately trying to untangle himself from the mess of cords and tubes. The boy's mouth opened, and out came, "Hey rosh, wha' are you ruing? Hell het me ow arf her! (Hey boss, what're you doing? Help get me out of here!)" When Naruto didn't move, the boy frowned and followed Naruto's gaze. He gasped, taking in a large gulp of green liquid, as he saw the limp form of Naruto's clone. "Wha' are hell!? (What the hell!?)"

"That's what I want to say!"

Ten minutes later, Naruto and the boy lay panting on the wet ground of the laboratory. The glass tank that'd held the boy now had a huge hole in it. The culprit was the transformed hammer on the ground, which soon dispersed.

"So… are you really my clone?" Naruto asked hesitantly when they had both calmed down.

"Yeah, mentally I mean. I've still got the memories from him," the boy pointed at the unconscious (or dead?) clone. "And the chakra inside of me feels the same too. But physically, I'm not the same."

"This is really weird."

"Yeah. Totally." The boy's voice was slightly deeper than Naruto's, but not by too much since they were around the same age.

They fell into a silence.

Naruto glanced at his… clone. The boy's spiky black hair was now tamed due to its dampness. His eyes were surprisingly blue, though it was a darker shade in comparison to Naruto's cerulean blue. His face was narrower, giving him a sharper look. And lastly, he was now sporting Naruto's sacrificial black shorts, leaving Naruto in his orange underwear.

"What should we do about him?"

The boy's question jolted Naruto out of his observation. He made a few coherent sounds before realizing who the subject of the question was.

"I don't know. If I dispel him, would you disappear too?"

"I don't know. Let's try it."

The boy looked eager, but a growing worry was planted in Naruto's stomach. He had already become friends with this clone… this boy. If he disappeared…

"I have a feeling I won't disappear," as if reading Naruto's thought, the boy placed a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Besides, won't the jutsu only cause the clone's body to disappear? I'm currently in another body so there's no way I would disappear."

The firm tone ceased Naruto's worries. With a timid nod, Naruto formed a hand seal. "Alright. But… if you do disappear… J-just know that it was very nice meeting you. You're the first friend I had in my life."

"Me too," the boy grinned.

Naruto took a deep breath.

"Release!"

Nothing happened.

"Whut?" Naruto frowned. "Release!"

The clone's limp body was still floating in the tank.

"What's going on?" Naruto looked puzzled. He had tried this multiple times while practicing the Shadow Clone jutsu, but all his attempts were successful. So what had caused the failure this time?

"When I switched to this body, my chakra also came along with me. So maybe it's because the chakra is different that you can't dispel it now?"

"You might be right." Naruto spared a glance at the unconscious clone. "We need to test this out again to see if we'll get the same result."

"Using one of your clones?"

At that moment, a surge of memories flooded Naruto's mind. The boy stared at Naruto's stilled form in confusion. "Boss?"

"Shit! Jiji found out."

"What's going on?"

"Four of my other clones just got caught by Jiji. He looked totally pissed after knowing that we'd entered the Forest of Death."

"Shit! What did he say?"

"He told me to meet him at the Hokage Tower in thirty minutes. Thank god my other clones agreed to cover up for me, or else we'd be so busted."

Naruto jerked his head to indicate the body-switch.

"Yeah, we can't let him find out about this. This needs to remain as a secret between us two."

"Yeah, since this body-switch isn't a henge, it per...permi...permanently alters your look. It can be very useful for our plan." Naruto wiggled his eyebrows, and the boy responded with a smirk.

The plan, Naruto thought, could be accelerated by this recent development. It had formed when he heard the two civilians talk about the chunin exam. As an artist, Naruto dreamed to see more of the world so he could increase the range of subjects for his art. But he was only six, not even a genin yet. Thus, he wasn't allowed to leave the village.

However, the shadow clone jutsu gave him an idea. He could just send transformed clones out of Konoha to do the exploring for him. And if they encountered any form of danger, they could just disperse, transferring their memories and experiences to Naruto.

Plus, with Naruto's _physical_ transformation, he could just make his shadow clones transform into inconspicuous animals and run right out of the gate. And since his henge wasn't an illusion, the possibility of the guards seeing through it was nonexistent.

The only concern Naruto had was that the shadow clones died too easily. Even the tiniest hint of physical assault would stop their chakra flow and cause them to disperse. But the discovery of this body-switch machine erased that tiny fragment of doubt from his mind. With this, Naruto could just make his clones body-switch with these naked children and they would be able to take hits like any other human beings.

But before that, Naruto needed to test this out a few more times for his unanswered questions. Like _would I still get their memories after they die in their new bodies_ _?_ Or _after the body-switch, can they still do the jutsu they know?_

The last question was answered, however, when the boy physically transformed himself into a copy of Naruto.

"Ah, so you can still do the jutsu you know even in this new body."

"Yeah, I guess," his clone looked surprised at the revelation, but soon shrugged it off. Compared to the body-switch, this surprise was _nothing_.

Before leaving, Naruto created five clones to sort through the medical scrolls in the mini-library and told them to keep a look out for any interesting ones. Then, with a backward glance at the little hideout, he and the clone left the Forest of Death.

When they arrived at their apartment, the clone dropped the henge and they both took a quick shower together. In their minds, they were the same person despite the physical differences, so taking a shower together wasn't that much of a big deal. Besides, it wasn't like there was anything new to see.

While showering, Naruto received another wave of memories from the rest of the clones he had sent into the Forest of Death. They had found a tall, red tower in the middle of the forest, but the door was locked and sealed, forbidding their entry. Naruto wondered what the tower was for.

After getting dressed, the boy transformed into a copy of Naruto again in case anyone noticed the stranger in Konoha and grew suspicious.

"We still have about fifteen minutes," Naruto said as he took a glance at his alarm clock. "We can use this time to...um..."

The clone grinned, "With this new face, I think I need a name first, obviously." He trod to Naruto's drawer and took out a sketchbook that had the words 'Book of Idantities' written on the spine with an orange crayon. It was a chunky, black sketchbook that seemed to be made out of leather. It was a pity that the store didn't sell orange sketchbooks, so Naruto chose his second favorite color: black.

"Ah, smart, I didn't think of that!"

He laid the book onto the ground and flipped open to the first page. It was a sketch of a five-year old Naruto, grinning happily in the image.

"I remember this," Naruto traced the face in the portrait with a genuine smile. "I was so happy that Jiji took me out shopping and bought this sketchbook for me, so I went home right away and drew a sketch of myself and showed it to him. He even patted my head afterwards, though he doesn't do that much anymore."

"Maybe he thinks we're older and more mature now, that we don't need to be treated like a kid anymore." The clone tapped his chin, "I mean, I do _feel_ more mature than the me two years ago."

"The wonder of art."

"Yeah. Art is like magic. It changed us before we even realized we're changing."

Naruto hummed in agreement as he slowly turned the pages.

As pages were flipped, sketches of different people caught their eyes. Some were adults; some were children. Some were females; some were males. These were not random people on the street whom Naruto decided to use as models; they were Naruto under a henge.

Growing up alone, Naruto would often daydream about having friends and family. He would wonder what they would look like, what kind of people they would be, and what their names would be. After learning to draw, these daydreams would materialize on paper.

"This one might work," Naruto paused at a certain page. It contained a sketch of a boy with black hair, blue eyes, and a grin that looked much like Naruto's own. He had originally created this after wondering what he would look like with black hair and no whisker marks. The name he had chosen was similar to his own too: Menma.

'Naruto' and 'Menma', both toppings for ramen.

"'Personality'," the clone read off of the small text box on the corner of the page. "'Same as mine. Very friendly and loves to make friends. Dream: make lots of friends and become a strong ninja.' Yeah, this will definitely work."

They grinned at each other, and both stood up at the same time. Naruto straightened his shirt and extended a hand first, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My favorite food is ramen and my favorite color is orange. My dream is to become the best artist in the world and share my art with everyone. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

The clone grabbed the hand tightly, grinning, "My name is Menma. My favorite food is also ramen and my favorite color is black. My dream is to make tons of friends and become strong enough to protect all of them! It's a pleasure to meet you too!"

Their grip tightened.

"Friends forever?"

"Friends forever!"

And their friendship was sealed.

* * *

 **AN: Dammit! I forgot today was April Fools! Oh well :[**

As you can see, I made some changes to the Shadow Clone Jutsu to fit the plot. There will be more changes coming as to how things should work in canon.

I tried to make each chapter no more than 6k words. 5k words is perfect. But this chapter nearly reached 7k, which is way too much. Next chapter will be considerately shorter, probably around 4k words.

Thank you for reading and Happy Late Easter! Ch4 is almost done so Ch3 will be posted as soon as it's done editing.


	3. Midnight Discussion

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

 **AN:** There're soooo many good animes this season! These are definitely worth watching: Boku no Hero Academia, Re: Zero, and Sakamoto desu ga. Bungou Stray Dogs has a good plot, but I think the anime has poorly adapted the manga. You should give the manga a try.

Anyway, hope you enjoy. **Violetbird27** helped look over this chapter, and, as per usual, **DualInsanities222** edited it.

* * *

 **Chapter 3 Midnight Discussion**

Naruto was not afraid of public embarrassment, hence the pranks and stunts he had pulled. Years of experience had molded him into an open and candid person. If he wanted to say or do something, he would do it. If the thing he wanted to do would embarrass him, he would just brazen it out and hope for the best.

And thus, something this simple would not cause him any form of agitation. It didn't matter that everyone in the surrounding had their sharp gazes on him. It didn't matter that Naruto didn't know most of the people present; what mattered was that Naruto wanted to do something right now, and he would do it. To hell with what others would think of him.

Under the gaze of everyone, Naruto closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, grunted a few times, and-

"PPPPPFFFFFFFTTTTTTT!"

A relatively small yet lethal explosion blasted out of his anus, creating a pungent aroma of ramen that quickly surrounded the area.

Naruto took a whiff.

Mmmm. It smelled like Ichiraku's special miso ramen. The distinct sweetness of the cabbage and the peppery scent of the secret seasoning lingered, causing many lucky souls to almost rise to heaven after filling their nostrils with the most unique odor they'd ever sniffed.

The Hokage's solemn mien turned to one of hopelessness. He quickly pulled the curtains aside and opened the window. The ANBU hiding in the various areas of the room all silently face-palmed. One member discretely did a miniature version of the Great Breakthrough jutsu to disperse the smell.

 _This boy really has no shame, does he?_

Sarutobi coughed, but Naruto ignored him. "Naruto," he tried again.

Naruto looked at him, and frowned, "Hey, did you just fart?"

Sarutobi decided that if he was going to fret over the issue of Naruto's farting while he was about to tell him something very important, he would never get to the subject matter. Therefore, he did what he did best: He put on his Hokage face, the stoic mask that hid his frustration… and amusement, and spoke, "Naruto, I have something very important to tell you."

"Yeah?" The boy responded, still waving the air surround him.

"When you fought that centipede, did you feel something different in you?"

Naruto paused and recalled the memory. All it had taken to defeat the centipede was an explosion.

Now that he thought about it, what was that paper that had caused the explosion? He knew he had seen it at weapon shops before, but he couldn't remember the name of the tool. Thankfully, he remembered the design of the paper in vivid details due to his clones' eidetic memories. It didn't matter what that was called; what mattered was that it could cause explosions, which led to injuries, which in turn meant it was a useful tool to keep. Naruto made a mental note to ask Marumaru-jiichan about it when he had time.

Sarutobi frowned at the boy's thoughtful look. He assumed that Naruto was pondering deeply about the incident. "The reason why I called you here today is because I'm going to tell you a secret concerning you and the power you'd used to take down the centipede."

"Huh?" Naruto was confused. "Power?"

"Yes." Sarutobi misread Naruto's confusion as _what is that strange power_ instead of _what are you talking about_. "What I'm about to tell you is a S-ranked secret. You're free to tell whoever you trust with the secret, but only you have this privilege. If other people spread this secret around without my permission or yours, then they will be executed."

The cold tone sent a shiver through the blond's body. Naruto quickly nodded in understanding.

"Let's start this with a question: What do you know about the Kyuubi?" Sarutobi began.

"It was killed by the Yondaime six years ago, on the same day I was born."

That was a perfect, textbook answer, but it was not correct.

"The truth is: the Kyuubi was not killed." Naruto gaped and Sarutobi chuckled. "The Kyuubi is one of the Nine Tailed-Beasts in existence. It is a being that is made up of chakra, thus it cannot be killed."

"T-then, where is it now? Is it locked up somewhere? Is it going to attack Konoha again?"

"The answer of your first question lies within you."

Naruto looked down, and up, then he shrieked.

"Indeed. Minato couldn't kill it, so he sealed it in a newborn by using a self-sacrificial jutsu. And that baby-" Sarutobi pointed at the trembling boy in front of him "-is you, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto had gone silent, frozen in shock and disbelief.

Sarutobi continued, "Minato wished the village would see you as a hero who kept the Kyuubi in control. But unbeknownst to him, the anger and anguish the villagers felt towards the Kyuubi made them unleash it all on you. They saw you as the demon itself, not the warden who keeps the prisoner at bay. I tried my best to give you a happy childhood, but it was easier said than done."

The boy was still silent. Sarutobi stopped talking to give the boy some time to think.

Naruto couldn't believe it. Or rather, he didn't want to believe it. He knew the Hokage wouldn't lie about something like this, so what he had just said must be the truth.

All types of emotions swirled inside of him, twisting and writhing, causing him to sway slightly. His legs felt unsteady, and he let himself collapse on the ground.

He thought back to all the times he had been chased by drunkards on his birthday, how no parents allowed their child to even get near him, how he was treated unfairly in so many ways. Now that he finally knew the reason he was hated, relief settled inside him, but, at the same time, anger bubbled up in his chest.

"Why did he choose me?" Naruto said, so quietly the Sandaime had to read his lips in order to comprehend the question.

"That is a conversation best reserved for another time."

"No!" he shouted. "Tell me now! Why the hell was I chosen to be the Kyuubi container!? Why me, a parentless orphan!? What makes me so special!?" Naruto paused to take a breath. "You told me that my parents died on the day of the Kyuubi attack. Did they do something to piss the Yondaime off so badly that he decided to doom their son into a life of curses and hatred? Did my parents betray Konoha? Are they allies or foes?"

Naruto's gaze held a range of emotions. Anger, sadness, disbelief, curiosity, and something indistinguishable.

Sarutobi glanced away. He curled his fingers and stroked his beard as he considered the pros and cons of telling the boy his heritage. He knew if the secret was let out, Naruto would be in danger considering how many enemies his father had made. But at the speed the boy was progressing…

"I'm willing to tell you the identity of your parents; however, I'm afraid that this news will leak out and into the ears of the enemies. Some of them have a grudge against your parents and I fear that they will take out their hatred on you, Naruto. Therefore, I've decided," Sarutobi's gaze sharpened. "Naruto, if you can show me that you have the capability to protect yourself from danger, I will tell you who your parents are. You have one month's time."

"How do I show you?"

"The methods are of your choosing."

Naruto thought over it. The deal wasn't bad. It was either become strong and unravel the mystery of his parentage, or fail and get nothing. Either way, he wasn't going to lose anything, so why not take a dive?

The decision made, Naruto nodded.

"Alright, I'll show you what I'm made of!"

Eager to start training, Naruto bounced away, leaving a pleased Hokage smiling to himself, feeling extremely proud for successfully pulling off a topic changer on the hard-headed boy.

* * *

Menma wasn't there when Naruto returned to his apartment.

 _Probably went to see Marumaru-jiichan already_ , Naruto thought, knowing Menma and his mind worked the same way, and that was what Naruto would do if he was in his counterpart's shoes.

Locking the door, Naruto set out toward a shabby bar the older man always resided in when he wasn't on a mission. The glares he received on the way there weren't unusual, but he was more conscious of them this time. He could practically feel their scorching disgust burning into his skin, leaving invisible marks etched into his flesh.

Naruto flinched. His eyes clouded with visible sadness as he quickened his pace.

A woman he walked past raised her chin and sneered disdainfully down at him. Those cold, black eyes were like a void, devouring him whole and leaving no evidence of his existence.

 _There… there has to be a way to change their opinions of me. What can I do to show that I'm not the Kyuubi?_

A loud exclamation sounded from somewhere behind him. Turning to look, he saw a group of older ninja, the one in the center holding up Naruto's painting of last year's Kyuubi festival. The joyful chatters brought a smile onto Naruto's face.

 _Idiot, the answer is right in front of me. If they find out that I'm actually 'Eishi', they'll realize that I'm not the Kyuubi, just Uzumaki Naruto, a boy who likes to draw. Because the Kyuubi is evil, it can't draw pieces that bring smiles to people's faces._

 _But to do so, I must become well-known. I have to improve my art and make everyone fall in love with it, so when I reveal myself, I can change everyone's mind at once._

With new determination invigorating him, Naruto skipped his way down the road, his steps lighter and his sight clearer than before.

When he reached his destination, he hid in a nearby alley and transformed into a middle-aged man before stepping into the age-restricted bar. The place was dim and smoke-filled. On the stools beside the counter sat a group of ninja; Naruto recognized one of them as the mask-wearing pervert who seemed to be obsessed with that orange book. Another one he was familiar with was Sarutobi Asuma, the Sandaime's son. Naruto had met him on a few occasions and he seemed like a friendly man.

Walking past them, Naruto went to the table at the most secluded corner of the bar and sat down next to a man who looked like a carbon copy of his current appearance, and in front of a gray-haired, elderly man who looked to be around fifty years old. His eyes were closed and he had a humble smile stretched across his face.

Naruto exchanged a glance with his 'twin', and said, "Menma, we really do think the same way."

He indicated their same transformation.

His 'twin' replied, "We do have the same mind, after all."

They laughed, hitting each other's shoulders playfully.

The old man lifted his brows in surprise, causing more wrinkles to form on his forehead. "So you were telling the truth," he remarked slowly in a hushed voice. "You really did learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Yeah, like I would lie to you, Marumaru-jiichan," Menma grinned.

"Do you know this jutsu?" Naruto asked.

"I have heard of it and I know a few people who use the jutsu, like that man over there," Marumaru pointed at the silver-haired pervert giggling on the stool.

"That perverted guy can do the Shadow Clone Jutsu too?" Naruto and Menma exclaimed, shocked.

Marumaru chuckled good-naturedly. "Do not underestimate him. He's stronger than you think, not to mention he saved my life once."

The boys gaped. "W-w-what happened!?"

"Well, you did not visit me just to hear my life's story, did you?"

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly, Menma mirroring the movement.

"Yeah, well, we're here to ask you something," Naruto took out the broken seal he had found on the metal door of the hidden lab and placed it on the table. "Do you know what this seal does?"

"Oh!" Marumaru leaned closer. "Another seal, huh? You're encountering a lot of them these days."

Naruto sent a confused look to Menma, who explained, "I asked him about the exploding paper before. He said it's called an 'explosive tag' and is pretty expensive. We can make it ourselves though."

"If it's easy to make then how come no one's tried to make them?" Naruto wondered.

"Because they would rather buy an expendable explosive tag than make a huge effort getting the special paper, ink, and brush, and learning the design just to make one single explosive tag." A long sigh escaped the old man's chapped lips. "Ninja are lazy. They only care about what something can be used for, not how they acquire it"

"Are all ninja like that?"

Marumaru opened his eyes and stared at the two transformed youngsters solemnly before explaining, "Most of them are like this. When they become genin, they get so excited over the prospect of being ninja able to buy ninja tools that they don't stop to think 'how are these tools made?'. This habit stays with them throughout their ninja careers, causing them to think 'let's go to the weapon store and buy more' when they need to restock.'"

"Would you make them yourself then?"

"Well," Marumaru smiled, the corner of his closed eyes crinkled, forming more wrinkles than were present. "I'm an old man now. Even if I learned how to make them, the skill would not be of much use to me. But for you, it's different. You still have a long life ahead of you; you have a lot more time to figure out practical uses of the skill than I do. Besides, I'm not an avid fan of kayakujutsu, which is the use of explosives. Taijutsu and kenjutsu fit me better."

Naruto and Menma nodded, pouting slightly. The old man merely chuckled at the display and sipped his tea. "So you don't think explosives are useful?"

Marumaru placed the teacup down gently. "It doesn't matter what I think." He pointed at the transformed youngsters. "It only matters what you think. Everyone's opinion is different. Just like some people dislike you—" at this, he frowned "—and some people can look past their hatred and see the kind boy you really are."

The boys blushed slightly.

"And remember this," he dropped his hands onto his lap. "There's no such thing as 'not useful.' Everything can become a deadly weapon; it all depends on the user's decision to discover its whole potential."

"Even a bowl of ramen?"

Marumaru's laugh radiated warmth. "Yes, even a bowl of ramen. Imagine this. You're in a battle, you're very hungry, and your opponent suddenly throws you a bowl of ramen. Would you become distracted and possibly lower your guard?"

Naruto and Menma bowed their heads in embarrassment, for they could actually picture the scenario in their head. And at the same time, their stomachs grumbled loudly.

Marumaru chuckled and ordered two plates of pork pot stickers. He then went back to the broken seal and lifted his gray eyebrows.

"Where did you find this seal?"

The boys straightened their backs. "Um… somewhere..."

Seeing they clearly didn't want to speak the truth of the matter, Marumaru let it go and continued, "This is a very complicated seal. I'm not a seal master, so I don't know the purpose of this seal. However, I have studied a bit about seals and these symbols," he pointed at three symbols surrounding an empty circle, "are related to time and space."

Four eyebrows rose.

 _So it's as I thought. This seal does, in some way, keep that hideout the same. I guess it can control time or something. So cool!_

Naruto glanced at Menma; his counterpart winked. In an instant, Naruto knew that his friend shared the same thought.

 _We're so gonna look into this more. I mean, controlling time! How cool would that be!_

"Alright, thanks, Marumaru-jiichan!" Naruto stated as Menma took back the seal. "I gotta start planning for my training so I'll see you later!"

"Training?"

"Yeah. Jiji told me that," Naruto glanced around suspiciously before leaning forward and whispering, "he will tell me who my parents are if I show him that I can protect myself." He then straightened up. "That's why I need to start training!"

"Ah," Marumaru muttered as he stared at the boys' retreating backs. A ray of sunshine beamed through the window and reflected on the ladle and wok placed next to the Strongest Genin in Konoha. Maruboshi Kosuke took a bite out of the freshly served pot stickers and sighed in content.

 _Work hard, Naruto. At the rate you are going, you'll surpass your father in no time._

* * *

On the way back home, Naruto quickly briefed Menma on the one month deal he had set up with the Hokage. When they reached their apartment, the first thing they did was cook two cups of instant ramen. Then they sat down and laid a sheet of paper on the floor.

"Alright, we need to make a plan," Naruto declared, tapping his pencil against the paper.

"Yeah. Let's list the things we need to train on," Menma agreed as he took a pencil for himself.

"Tree climbing is a must," Naruto wrote it down as Number 1. "It's not gonna be too hard since we can just create clones and make them do the exercise. Then when they disappear, their experience will transfer to me."

"Yeah! We can _really_ speed up our training this way."

"Next, we should figure out what we have to learn to show Jiji that we can protect ourselves." Naruto pondered, biting the end of his pencil. " _How_ do we show him anyway? He didn't tell us."

"I dunno. Let's figure out what to train first."

"Yeah, you're right. So..." Naruto wrote down. "We have to learn how to throw kunai and shuriken. Those are the basics."

"Then, we need to learn how to create explosive tags," Menma offered and jotted it down, marking it Number 3.

"Yeah, since it'll save us money. Besides, we already have the ink and brush. We just need the special paper."

"Actually, we don't really need the special paper." Seeing the original's confused look, Menma explained, "Marumaru-jiichan said that the special paper allowed the explosive tag to stick onto any surface. So ninjas can wrap them around kunai or stick them on the trees or something like that. To create traps. But to create an explosive tag, we don't really need that special paper. Any paper would do."

"That makes everything much easier then," Naruto grinned and pointed at the wooden drawer that held sheets of paper. "We already have all the things needed. And I still remembered what the explosive tag looked like, so I can make it any time I want."

"Yeah, thanks to shadow clones!"

"What else do you think we should work on?"

Menma frowned. "Weapons and explosive tags aren't enough to protect ourselves. We need to learn taijutsu."

"But how do we learn it? It's not like we can just go up to an academy teacher and ask him 'Hey can you teach me taijutsu?' Yeah right, like they'd want to spend time teaching a child — not to mention, the 'demon child' — who's not even an academy student," Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms and slouching slightly.

They fell into a silence, then both called out at the same time.

"Marumaru-jiichan!"

They grinned.

"He said he's good at taijutsu and kenjutsu, so we can just ask him!"

"Yeah, since he's one of the only people who wouldn't mind teaching us!"

Naruto quickly noted down 'taijutsu' next to the number 4. And in a parenthesis, he added 'ask Marumaru'.

"Is that all?"

Menma nodded. "I think that's enough, for now."

"But I have a feeling I'm forgetting something..."

"Yeah, me too."

They both thought hard for a while before giving up. If they couldn't remember something, it was better to just move on and let their memory refresh itself instead of wasting more time on it. Besides, the sky was darkening and the ramen was getting cold. They inhaled it quickly and decided to call it a day.

* * *

Back in the lab, the clones who were sorting through medical scrolls yawned. Hours had passed since their boss had left them in the mini-library, and with the contribution of everyone, they had carefully selected a few scrolls that seemed to be the easiest and simplest to learn.

One of them was the A-ranked Healing Jutsu Naruto had thrown away. It may be A-ranked, but in comparison to jutsu like the Healing Resusci- something, this seemed way easier, not to mention more convenient, too.

With their work done, the clones exited the room and paused in front of the tank that contained the unconscious clone.

One clone spoke up, "If we injure him, would that cause him to pop?"

The responses varied; but in the end, they decided to try it out. Instead of breaking the tank, they went to the console of buttons and tried to figure how to properly open the lid. Last time, Naruto was in a state of panic and had pressed the first button he'd laid eyes on. This time, however, the clones had plenty of time and they found a row of numbered keys on the top of the console. The tank containing the clone was number 21.

One of the clones pressed the keys for it and the units on the tank lit up, then he tapped the button with the kanji "開 (open)." Without a sound, the extensible rod lifted up the lid, allowing a space for the clones to crawl in.

"What now?"

The clones traded glances. The opening was too high for them to reach.

The solution came quickly.

One clone formed a handseal and shouted, "Henge!" When the smoke cleared, there stood a ten-foot tall Naruto.

"Why hasn't Boss thought of this?"

"'Cuz he's stupid."

"You know you're insulting yourself, right?"

"AND you, dumbass."

The transformed clone ignored them and slid an arm into the tank. He grabbed the clone's collar and, after shaking him loose of the tubes and wires entangling him, dragged him out.

Laying the unconscious clone onto the ground, he transformed back and gestured the others to gather around. The five clones stared at the one on the ground, no one wanting to take action.

One clone huffed, "I'll do it then, you chickens." He raised a fist and brought it down on one whiskered cheek.

With a poof of smoke, the unconscious clone dispersed.

The remaining clones traded glances.

"Well, that's it I guess."

"Pretty simple."

"Yeah."

And they popped, too.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Naruto awakened with a sharp, panicking gasp for breath. He grabbed the back of his neck; the numbness lingered. The shadow, he remembered, had snuck up on him from behind, and before he could react, he was struck in the neck, falling unconscious. How long had he blacked out for? His parents must be worried.

...Wait a second.

The foreign word stood out in his mind.

Parents? Whose parents?

Naruto looked around in confusion and found himself in a somewhat familiar room.

 _This is… this is my room, yeah. And I'm Uzumaki Naruto._

He patted the space next to him, his hand feeling the soft material of Menma's shirt.

 _And Menma is next to me._

 _What's going on?_

He closed his eyes and concentrated.

 _What was I dreaming about?_

Images flashed across his mind, too quickly for him to catch them. But when he delved deep enough, he found himself remembering events that had never happened.

 _His parents sang a Happy Birthday song. It was his first birthday._

 _His butt felt cold. Something wet was moving against his skin. A soothing voice was murmuring something._

Then-

 _Screaming. Shouting. Crying._

 _An inhuman roar._

 _Something big, and red._

 _A yellow flash._

 _Then everything fell silent._

Some time must have passed. Because the next thing he remembered, he was back with his family again. Though Konoha looked utterly destroyed.

 _Things went back to normal._

 _He was playing Hide and Seek with his friends in the park. He hid behind a tree… Then. Footsteps. Pain. And everything turned black._

Naruto's eyes shot open. This wasn't his memory. So whose was it?

All of a sudden, a wave of memories from his clones hit his head, and everything made sense.

 _Is this… Is this the_ real _Menma's memories? Which means when my clone switched bodies with him, his memories also switched. That's why when my clone's body dispersed, I received his memories instead of my clone's._

The six year old widened his blue eyes, horrified when he realized the meaning behind the memories.

 _D-does this mean… I've taken away his mind? And… And not just that, his memories… His everything!_

The bed shifted when Menma flipped around and asked worriedly, "Boss? Are you crying?"

"Huh?" Naruto wiped a hand across his eyes and blinked. A layer of transparent tears clouded his vision. The outline of Menma blurred. "Ah, I didn't notice it."

"Is something wrong?"

"I… I've killed him, Menma," Naruto sniffed. "When I made you switch bodies with him, your original body became his new body. And my clones just made that body pop! And now I got his memories! I can remember living with parents! I can remember being kidnapped when playing Hide and Seek! I've basically erased his identity from this earth! Menma!"

"W-wait… Do you mean-"

"Yes! He doesn't exist in this world anymore! I took away his memories, his experience, his body! I took away everything from him!"

Big, fat tears escaped his tightly-shut eyes, rolling down his reddening cheeks. His lips trembled as continuous words of self-hatred tumbled out. It pained Menma to see him like this. Naruto wasn't just his boss, he was also his friend.

"Boss… Please don't cry," Menma tried.

The adorable ball of cuteness had devolved into a quivering mess. Still cute, however.

"I can't help it, Menma. What would his parents think if they find out? That their kid is gone, that his memories are in a stranger's head, and his body is now used by another stranger?"

"Boss-"

"What's a body without a mind? This is killing, Menma. I'm a murderer-"

"Naruto!"

The change in honorifics startled the crying boy.

"Don't call yourself a murderer! Please. I don't want to see you like this!" Menma begged earnestly.

"But I killed him!"

"Yes, but…" Menma thought hard, trying to find a way to change the stubborn boy's mind. "He… he's already dead!"

"What're you talking about?!"

"Think of it this way. The hideout looked to be at _least_ a few years old, meaning the owner hasn't been there for that long. He must have been kidnapped for years!" Menma argued. "After being gone for so long, _anyone_ would think he's dead. All you did is make his death more _real_."

Naruto's eyes grew glazed.

"If no one cares about his death, then that means it's okay even if you kill him, right!?"

Naruto slowly nodded.

"You're right. Only serious death matters, because these death will make people sad. Like… Like the death of our parents."

Silence enveloped them.

"But I'll be fine," Naruto stared at Menma with hopeful eyes. "Cuz you'll always be there for me, will you?"

"Of course! You're forever my best friend, Naruto!"

That one sentence was enough for Naruto drop all the weights off of his shoulders and throw himself onto his best friend.

No one had ever said that to him before.

Not Marumaru-jiichan or Jiji; they were parent figures.

Not Teuchi-jiisan or Ayame-neesan; they were just kind people who fed him.

Only Menma would forever be his special someone whom he could find solace in when he was down, complain to when he was judged unfairly, train to reach their dreams with, share his secrets with…

Only Menma could understand him.

"Thanks," Naruto said when he released the other boy. "I needed that."

"Next time you cry, I'll draw your snotty face in the sketchbook."

"Hey!"

They both knew it was a joke.

"C'mon, let's go get your face cleaned."

Hand in hand, they entered the bathroom. Menma took a towel and wettened it, then scrubbed Naruto's face with it.

"Mmmph! Hey! What's that for!?"

"Hehe."

Pouting, Naruto grabbed the towel and was about to return the favor—

"Menma. Your henge is gone," he pointed out.

Surprised, Menma stared into the mirror and, indeed, the henge he had put on before he slept that made him look like a Naruto clone was gone. He was now back to his black-haired, fair-skinned new appearance.

"This is gonna be a problem." The short moment of playfulness disappeared and Menma's demeanor changed to one of seriousness. He glanced at the other resident through the mirror. "If anyone found me next to you looking like this, asleep, we'd be in a lot of trouble."

"Yeah. We have to find a way to keep the henge."

It was late and they still needed their sleep. They quickly finished their business and went to the 'training' list that was nailed onto the wall, adding the new problem in hand as number 5.

The moment Menma's head hit the pillow, he fell asleep. Naruto didn't, however. Unlike Menma, he had seen the memories and guilt swam inside of him. Laying under the warm comforter, he thought.

 _Menma's right. I didn't do anything wrong. No need to feel bad about it. I mean, if I hadn't discovered the hideout, he'd have been stuck there forever, and it must be painful being inside that green water. I'm helping him out by k-ki-kill-killing him, and he's helping me out by letting me use his body to help achieve my dream. We're even._

Yes, everything would be alright. After all, it wasn't like anyone would miss him if he died, which meant his death wasn't anything serious, right?

* * *

 **AN:** It seems like this story will be updated monthly... Chapter 5 is giving me a difficult time.

I found an interesting quote today: "Every sentence must do one of two things-reveal character or advance the action." -Vonnegut

Please leave a review. I'm not very confident about this chapter (particularly the last part. Do you think his breakdown is too sudden and illogical?), so I'd be grateful if you can leave me a review telling me you thoughts.


	4. Defying Gravity

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto as usual.

 **AN:** Thanks to **DualInsanities222** for pointing out how bad my first draft is and **Yemi Hikari** for watching out for my characterization!

By the way, do you know what dark chocolates taste like? First bitter, then sweet. And I _hate_ dark chocolates.

* * *

 **Chapter 4 Defying Gravity**

Deep rumbling woke Menma up. It sounded like a monster waking from an endless slumber, causing vibration of the air surrounding him.

Heart pounding in his throat, he flipped around, and found himself face to face with the origin of the noise– snoring. Wide eyes focused dazedly on a tanned face, trailing down the closed cerulean eyes, fox-like whiskers, to slightly parted lips. A trail of dried drool was left on the chin.

On impulse, Menma raised his hand to trace the whiskers. The heat emanating from the warm skin under his fingers confirmed his belief that this was, in fact, _not_ a dream.

 _Is this what I look like when I'm asleep?_

Menma's hand trailed down the sleeping body and crept its way towards the back. He shifted closer to the other boy, allowing his other hand to snake across the blond's shoulder.

 _Naruto..._

He tightened his hold into a hug and snuggled his face into the juncture of the other's neck. The corner of his lips curled upward.

 _So cute!_

"Watcha doin'?"

The sleep-roughened, groggy voice sent a shiver down his spine. Menma quickly removed his disobedient hands and scooted away, a faint blush on his his cheeks. He could only stare, held immobile by the confused, sleepy gaze pinning him in place.

"I– You looked too cute, so I…" he blurted out, the blush doubled under the force of the unwavering stare.

"Eh?" Naruto reddened. "I know I'm cute, but... it sounds weird coming from someone else."

"But a fact is always a fact."

Naruto puffed out his cheeks. "You're cute too, y'know."

Impossibly, Menma's face heated even more.

"You're right. That does sound weird," he agreed.

The potential awkwardness was prevented by the more pressing needs of their bladders.

Letting Naruto have the first turn in the bathroom, Menma went into the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.

While waiting for the water to boil, he took out two cups of instant ramen, and, on further thought, he grabbed two eggs from the refrigerator. Jiji had told him many times that eating instant ramen for breakfast wasn't healthy, but Menma couldn't help it. Not only was it the only food the shops were willing to sell him, it was also tasty and easy to cook in comparison to vegetables and whatnot.

However, after he met Marumaru-jiichan, he'd learned that adding something as simple as eggs to his daily meal could help build muscles and things. And he kind of needed those for training, so eggs it was! Eggs were easy to cook too: just put them in water, wait for the water to boil, and the cooking was done. Simple as that.

Carefully pouring the hot water into the two plastic cups of instant ramen, Menma rinsed the eggs with cold water to get the heat off the shell. Then he cracked and peeled them easily and placed them into a bowl.

By the time he had poured two glasses of chocolate milk, which, according to Marumaru-jiichan, would help to make his bones stronger, Naruto was done with his morning routine. After exchanging a grunt of acknowledgement with Naruto, Menma entered the bathroom as the other eagerly devoured his breakfast.

Yawning, he reached for his toothbrush and was surprised to find a ginger-colored one next to his orange one. A split second later, he remembered that he was now no longer Naruto, or a Naruto clone, but _Menma_ , an independent living entity; and last night, he had taken out a new toothbrush from Naruto's pack that contained six toothbrushes in varying shades of orange.

Shaking his head slightly, he continued his morning routine, wiping the sink clean when he was done. Before meeting Marumaru-jiichan, Menma, or rather, Naruto, had been a very messy person, but one piece of advice from the old man had helped make him more orderly.

 _"It's normal to not want to clean your messes. But, if you clean up immediately after you make a mess, it won't add up, and you'll have a cleaner room."_

With that piece of advice firmly established in their minds, Menma and Naruto had acted accordingly ever since. And, like Marumaru-jiichan had said, their apartment did look tidier than it had two years ago.

Naruto was scribbling furiously on a piece of paper when Menma finished his lukewarm breakfast. He approached the blond curiously. "What're you doing?"

"Making an explosive tag," Naruto replied with the tip of his tongue poking out between his teeth.

"Oh..." Menma raised his eyebrows. The image that was on the paper looked more like a puddle from a toppled inkwell than a design like the tags seen in a store.

"I just can't get the shape right!" Naruto gritted his teeth, his hand clenched so hard his knuckles were white.

Menma turned to the 'training' list, then back at the image starting to take the shape of a sun with three eyes, two mouths, and fur surrounding the edge.

"Naruto… I think we need to work on our handwriting first," he suggested at last.

Naruto's crystal blue eyes narrowed and Menma felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down his face. _This isn't going to go well, is it?_

"I make art for a living, you know that, right?"

"So you know what a circle looks like, right?"

Naruto's eyes turned into mere slits before his hand lashed out and Menma felt wetness streak across his face. He blinked disbelievingly at Naruto's foxy grin. "Something like that, yeah?"

Menma's own eyes narrowed. Oh, it was _on_. He smiled sweetly and picked up a brush of his own. "No. More like… THIS!" He threw himself at his Original and they both went down in a tangle of flailing limbs and paintbrushes and giggled protests.

"M-Menma, no! I'm t-t-t-ticklish thereeeee!"

"VENGEANCE!"

The fight lasted for exactly ten minutes, four paintbrushes, and two pots of ink before Menma sat on the back of his Original in victory and Naruto finally agreed that calligraphy needed to be practiced before he could move on to making a _proper_ explosive tag.

After making a few clones practice just that, the two boys left the apartment with Menma under a henge, and went to Training Ground #44. Leaving ten clones to get a start on the tree-climbing exercise, the originals departed for Marumaru-jiichan's house.

* * *

Maruboshi Kosuke was quite surprised to find Naruto and his clone at his doorstep so early in the morning. From what he had learned throughout the years, Naruto spent most of his days drawing and annoying Hokage-sama. Naruto did visit him often, truth be told. But due to his status as a ninja, he was rarely present when the boy came knocking on his door. Apparently, Naruto took that as a sign that he was a very busy person and shouldn't be bothered so often. Thus, it came as a surprise for Kosuke to see the boy, _and_ his clone, visiting two days in a row.

Kosuke shifted his gaze onto the clone… or rather, the one he _thought_ was the clone. He sighed. Naruto was probably happy to have learned Shadow Clone Jutsu, but was it _really_ necessary to bring a clone with him to see his 'Marumaru-jiichan'?

Filing his confusion away for later, Kosuke smiled warmly in greeting. "Good morning, Naruto. What brings you here today?"

He opened the door wider, indicating that they were welcome to enter, but the boys merely shifted in their stances. They trades glances, nodded, and spoke together, "Marumaru-jiichan, are you busy today?"

"I have some spare time."

"Then can you teach us taijutsu?"

Apparently noticing the slight rise of his eyebrows, one added, "We don't want to be a bother."

"Just a few quick instructions would be fine," the other finished.

"You're never a bother, Naruto. Come on in."

This time, the boys took the offer and entered his house. It wasn't Naruto's first time inside, so he and his clone easily made their way to the dining room. Kosuke poured a cup of coffee for himself and two glasses of chocolate milk for the kids. He knew that Naruto had fallen in love with the taste of milk, especially _chocolate_ milk, since he had first been introduced to it two years ago.

The boys drank eagerly as Kosuke began, "I assume this is part of the training you were talking about yesterday?"

"Yup!" one of the Narutos said. The sight of a chocolate mustache along his upper lip made Kosuke chuckle. "We need to become stronger, and taijutsu is important for that!"

"Indeed, many a ninja underestimates taijutsu and believes ninjutsu is stronger simply because some are loud and flashy. Imagine this. Your opponent has unleashed a huge showing of ninjutsu so far. Waves of water, the ground opening up, the skies darkening with clouds and rumbling with thunder. You don't know what they'll bring out next. Will they call fire from the sky? Turn the very wind against you? You don't know.

"They begin to go through handseals, faster than the eye can follow, your heart is beating fast, the enemy seems unbeatable. So you give in to a desperate attack. Your foe, who seemed so invincible, who could control the very elements— is knocked out cold from a single punch to the face because he had no idea how to guard against it."

The two blonds were gaping, awestruck, by the end of the tale.

"Even the most powerful ninjutsu won't do you any good if your enemy gets in close enough to hit you."

Kosuke sipped his coffee as he waited for the Narutos to digest the information.

"Wooooaaaaaaahhh! That is so cooool! Please teach us, Marumaru-jiichan! How do you fight like that!?"

Kosuke rubbed his hands together. "There are many styles in taijutsu. But in the end, it all comes down to how well you can deal with attacks. Taijutsu is separated into two areas: offense and defense."

One of the boys took out a crumpled sheet of paper — Kosuke could see some messy sketches on the back — and began jotting down notes. He was pleased to see Naruto taking his training so seriously.

"Offense means attacking your opponent. Just plain punching or kicking won't do you any good. You have to observe your opponent, which you would excel at with your interest in art enhancing your observation skills, finding their weakness and openings. Watch how they deal with your attacks so you can change your moves accordingly."

The boys nodded but the old man could still see the question marks practically floating over their heads.

"Defense means blocking, dodging, or parrying the incoming attacks. I am sure you know what the first two mean." The boys nodded. "Instead of explaining, I'll _show_ you what parrying is."

He gestured for one of them to stand up and told him to throw a punch. The Naruto cocked back a fist and brought it forward without much force, as if afraid to injure one of the only people who acknowledged him. To the boy's obvious surprise, Kosuke simply swatted his arm away and stepped to the side. That effortless movement was enough to diminish the negligible force behind the punch and put the boy off balance.

The six year old blinked, his fist still extended.

"This is called parrying. Instead of blocking or dodging, you knock away the hand or leg in a way that can best minimize the force." Kosuke smiled warmly. "As long as you master these, you will be fine." He sat down and sipped his warm coffee. The standing Naruto was snapped out of his trance by the movement. "Now, do you have any questions?"

Two hands shot up.

Kosuke nodded at both of them, and as he was coming to expect, their questions were the same.

"How do we become good at fighting like you!?"

"Practice," was his simple response. Two disappointed groans answered him. "There's no short-cuts. To master something, you must put in time and effort."

One Naruto opened his mouth, probably to voice a complaint, but the other jabbed him in the ribs, earning a choked snort.

And he _didn't_ disperse. _So that's the real Naruto_ _,_ Kosuke mused.

"What did you do that for, you jerk!?"

"Shut up and leave it to me!" The clone grabbed Naruto's arm and announced, "I know what we should do now. Thanks for everything, Jiichan!"

"No problem. You're welcome anytime."

The duo stood up to leave. Before they reached the door, Kosuke said, "I'm going to be on a mission for the next few weeks, so I won't be here. A genjutsu is hiding the key in the flower pot as always, in case you need something from my house."

The boys beamed at the amount of trust placed in them. "Thanks for telling us, Jiichan! We promise we won't tell anyone!"

* * *

"What was that for!?" Naruto cried when they were a few yards away from the door, still nursing his bruised side.

"That was to shut you up. You were gonna complain about having to practice right?"

"Ugh, something like that," Naruto murmured. His friend knew him too well, and it frustrated him at times.

Menma threw a smirk at Naruto. "Well, a while ago, I got a memory from a clone who fell down a tree, and now I know that we'll slip if we use too little chakra and we'll blast off a chunk of wood if we use too much. So, when we start practicing, we'll have a rough idea of how much chakra we should use. And I've got an idea. We can use the Shadow Clone Jutsu to speed up our training!"

"Heh, you're right! It might work that way! If one clone tells you that much stuff about tree-climbing, imagine what fifty of them can do! And with our chakra, we can produce tons of them! We'll get the tree-climbing down in no time! Same for Taijutsu!"

"Yeah! The Shadow Clone Jutsu is our shortcut! Marumaru-jiichan thought there's no shortcut cuz he can't produce that many clones like we do!"

Lost in their heated discussion, they arrived at the clearing before they could move onto their next topic; about how they would use the shortcut to become genin before ten, S-ranked ninja before twelve, and world-renowned artists before fifteen.

Naruto quickly counted. "Only one clone has popped, aside from the one earlier. And since I didn't get any memories, that means the missing clone is yours." A smug smile tugged at his lips. Messing with Menma was always fun, or perhaps it was due to his years of isolation that he never let the chance to fool around with someone slip by. "Menma, your clones suck."

"What did you say!?" As expected, Menma was riled up. Eyes ablaze, nostrils flaring, he shook his fist threateningly before Naruto's face. "I'll show you who's boss!" He turned to a tree nearby and placed a foot against it. Huffing, he closed his eyes as if trying to recall his clones' memories, then quickly yanked his other foot off the ground and—

BAM!

Seeing his friend sprawled on the ground like an unfortunate turtle flipped on its back, twitching as if he was having a seizure, Naruto laughed so hard his eyes watered.

"Ah...HAHAHAHA...o-oh my...GOD! My stomach! AHAHAHAHA!"

With tears blurring his vision, Naruto could barely see Menma rising to his feet and blushing full-force.

"Let me see _you_ try, then!"

"Haha...ha...hah." Finally, the laughter died down. Naruto rubbed his sore stomach, huffing slightly. "That was funny."

Menma was shaking.

"Alright, alright! Chill out and watch me!"

Naruto unfolded his arms and stretched, arching his back, then cracking his neck.

"Yosh!" He placed a foot against the tree as he concentrated on the warm energy in his body. Although he wasn't an academy student and had no knowledge on chakra (except that it was something everyone had and it could be used to do jutsu and… stuff), he could guess how to do this—guiding the energy slowly, inch by inch, towards his foot. "And now… Hah!" He tore his other foot off the ground and—

BAM!

It seemed that he had forgotten that Menma was once his clone and, therefore, they were practically the same person.

Having to withstand the painful ache in his butt and the dizziness in his head while hearing his friend's taunting laughter _really_ wasn't a nice experience. It was like listening to three gossip mongers talk at the same time.

"AHHHH!" With a loud cry, Naruto sprang back to his feet and pointed a shaky finger at his cackling frien— no, now he was a _rival_. "I-i-it's not like you can do it either! We're like… like… like… ramen and art!"

"Who said I can't do it? I bet I can do it faster than you!"

"Oh yeah? Well I bet _I_ can do it faster than you!"

"Don't talk big, Naruto. You shouldn't bet when you know you won't win."

"Right back at you! Loser has to pay for lunch!"

"We're _sharing_ money, remember? So it doesn't matter who pays."

"Then… then… loser can _only_ order Ichiraku's Special S-ranked Maximal Deathly Spicy Miso Ramen for lunch!"

"D-d-d-deal!"

Before they realized, three hours had gone by and they were laying on the cool grass, hands shielding their eyes from the baleful sun that barbecued them ruthlessly. Their shirts were completely drenched in sweat, their shorts and exposed skin caked in dirt and leaves.

At some point without notice, all their clones dispersed, seeing their originals' preoccupation as a chance for them to escape from the unbearable heat and the gradually dulling training.

With the clones' memories in mind, the boys had picked up a tip here and there and subconsciously used them in their own training.

However, in the end, they were still nearly even and the competition resulted in a tie.

Both believed they deserved a reward for their hard work, so they headed towards Ichiraku's. Though usually immune to the glares of the villagers, Naruto and Menma were sharply aware of the hostile looks being sent their way, more poisonous than usual.

They tried to shake it off for Teuchi and Ayame who greeted them—or Naruto, at any rate—with even more good cheer and enthusiasm as if directly opposing the other villagers. "Good afternoon, Naruto~! Ah, both of you."

Naruto beamed and threw an arm around Menma. "I learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu! It's awesome, right?"

Ayame smiled as her father began preparing noodles. "Very awesome. So, Miso Ramen for… both of you?"

Both boys grinned and nodded. "Yes, please!"

The brunet leaned on the counter to talk to them. "Shadow Clones, that's an advanced technique, isn't it?"

"Yeah! Not even some _Chunin_ know it, but we— I do!"

Ayame stared over their shoulders, gaze narrowing, but when Naruto and Menma turned to look, several scowling women turned their faces away and kept walking. With the itch of watching eyes on their backs, the boys turned back to the counter when their food was set down. They effortlessly kept beaming at the older girl who casually chatted as if trying to divert their attention, but their fists were clenched under the counter, hidden from sight.

Learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu wasn't something incredible, but the ' _demon boy_ ' mastering it when he was only six years old was enough to instill fear and caution in the biased bystanders.

The feeling of being watched by hostile eyes only grew as they ate and within ten minutes it was unbearable, even with Ayame trying to diffuse the tension. After only ten bowls in total, both boys gave in and paid, wishing they had gone straight home and settled for instant ramen instead. In their hurry to leave, they didn't even wait for change before running for the safety of their apartment.

* * *

The door slammed open, adding more depth to the growing dent in the faded green wall. Naruto and Menma stumbled in, their faces pale and drenched with sweat, and collapsed onto the ground simultaneously.

"Th-that… was a mistake," Naruto mumbled through the fingers that covered his mouth. "I shouldn't have run right after I ate. I think I'm gonna puke."

"Don't. The food cost over two-thousand ryo. Think of how much orange paint you could buy with that." Menma's own face was turning green, looking as if he was having trouble keeping the food down himself.

"About… twenty bottles," Naruto responded after a few minutes. Calculating with big numbers always took him longer. After a minute of silence, he spoke again, "Now they trust us even less."

There was no need for clarification. Menma knew who Naruto was talking about.

"I shouldn't have used a henge."

"But then it'd look weird that I suddenly made a friend who acts like me, talks like me, and eats as much as I do. People would get suspicious."

"More than they do now?"

"I don't know. And I don't wanna know."

The silence returned.

"But it'll be fine!" Naruto leapt into the air, a megawatt grin leaping along with him. "Cuz when we become world-renowned artists and reveal ourselves, they'll swoon over us and treat us like celebrities— not that we aren't already!"

He grabbed Menma and pulled him onto his feet. "C'mon!" Naruto pumped their fists into the air. "Say it with me! BELIEVE-IT! Together! One, two, three! BELIEVE—"

"Blurahhhh!"

"UWAHHH! Don't puke all over— Blurahhhh!"

* * *

Later that day, Naruto and Menma continued their tree-climbing training (after whining about the loss of twenty bottles of orange paint, filling their stomachs with instant ramen, and resting a bit). They barely progressed. The moment they lifted their other foot off the ground, they'd fall. If they were lucky, they'd be able to catch themselves in time by planting their hands beneath their body. But most of the time, they'd have to endure a smack to their puny little butts (which was why their clones dispersed continuously, and that was also why they decided to create a batch of at least thirty clones at a time).

They returned that night, exhausted and feeling as if their butts were about to crack in half. Without wasting time, they went straight to the shower and scrubbed themselves clean, then they ate some instant ramen to hush their gnawing stomachs and— They didn't know what happened after that.

Though it wasn't hard to guess considering they woke up the next day in strange spots in their room. Naruto had fallen asleep on the table with soggy noodles hanging on his lips, and Menma was drooling on the comforter with his lower body draping off one side of the bed.

"Oww! My back! My neck!"

"Uwahhh! I can't feel my legs!"

And they had no one to blame but themselves.

* * *

"A new day begins! Boys—"

The clones roared, dozens of fists pumping into the air.

"And our training starts, now!"

It was seven in the morning so the sky was still grey and the air was cool and soothing. Naruto and Menma weren't early-risers, but they'd rather rise early and get some training done in a bearable weather than wake up late and have to train at midday when the sun was scorching.

Naruto and Menma each created thirty clones and sent them to work. Then, they each chose the tree they used the day before and continued their competition. Oh yes, the bet remained.

"It's not working," Naruto complained a few hours into training. The heat was starting to get to him and the sun continued to try melting his eyeballs from his skull. Crawling to his water flask, Naruto drank half and poured the rest over his head. He ran his fingers through his hair and dragged a hand down his face, pausing over his eyes and feeling some water drops trickle through his fingers and catch on his eyelashes.

Menma frowned, seeing Naruto had suddenly frozen. "What's the matter?"

"I think I have an idea."

"Oh?"

Naruto pulled his collar over his head and wiped his face, then he closed his eyes.

"Whacha doin'?"

Instead of answering him, Naruto backed up a few steps, eyes still closed. Applying some chakra onto his feet, he began walking forward, slowly, relaxed. When his toes hit the trunk, he placed a foot against the bark, and, without pausing, began walking up the tree.

Concentrating on using the same amount of chakra with each step was a difficult task. Especially when he was walking up against gravity.

At five feet above the ground, Naruto faltered, and fell. Snapping his eyes open, he twisted and flipped over, feet planting safely on solid earth and his butt managing to escape another painful smack.

"Wow! How did you do that!?"

"Hehe~ A clone just popped because he closed his eyes when the sun blinded him so he slipped and fell. And that made me think. When we're training, we always get nervous when we step onto the tree, cuz we're used to standing on the flat ground."

Menma nodded. "You're right. It does feel strange."

"But if we close our eyes, maybe we'll forget about all that and think we _are_ standing on the ground. To trick ourselves into believing it."

Menma's eyes widened as if he had just been introduced to a new world. He started mumbling and nodding, closing his eyes. As Menma began testing the method out, Naruto dispersed all his remaining clones and created thirty new ones.

"Y'all, listen up!"

"We _are_ listening," one clone muttered, picking his ear.

"Go practice tree-climbing this new way. The one who gets the furthest gets a bowl of ramen!"

"Seriously!?"

"Have I ever lied?" The clones shook their heads. "Get to it then!"

Before the last syllable drifted into the air, the clones scattered and returned to their respective trees. Naruto watched nervously, feeling as if his heart was in his throat. They all made their ways to the trees and began.

One step… two steps… three...

Naruto gulped.

Four steps… five…

And they fell.

His anxiety dissolved and a joyful grin replaced his frown. His method worked. They were finally progressing!

"Naruto, look! I did it—"

The moment Naruto turned his head, Menma slipped and was rewarded with a mouthful of dirt and grass.

"Oof!"

"Pff!" The chuckle escaped his lips before he could refrain himself.

"It's not funny!" Menma cried. Dirt and grass stuck to him from the sweat on his face. Twigs and leaves stuck out of his tangled hair like a plant growing out of control.

He really looked kinda funny.

"It is!" And Naruto's chuckles turned into a full-blown laughter.

Menma fumed quietly but Naruto's genuine laughter kept ringing in his ears, inviting him to join in. In the end, he gave in and began snickering himself. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because Naruto's laugh had some sort of magical power that could affect everyone. Or perhaps it was due to them finally progressing and their goal actually looking reachable.

Or maybe because it was fun to finally have a friend to laugh _with_.

* * *

 **AN: IMPORTANT PLEASE READ!**

First, I want to apologize for the late update. I promised to update at least 1 chapter every month but I messed up on this chapter and got reprimanded harshly by my betas lol. With their advice, I practically rewrote the entire chapter. But with my finals coming up, I barely have time to do that. So it took a while, sorry!

And next, the important stuff. I will be leaving for military boot camp this month. It will last for 3 months and we're not allowed to bring out phones there. Plus, the training would be so tedious and mentally straining that even if I have free time, I would use it to rest instead of exploiting brain cells and writing fanfiction. After boot camp, we'll have another training that lasts for 1 month. We can have our phones there, but I don't know if I can/have time to write (I write better on a computer). And after _that_ , I'll have 6 months of job training. During the time, I might not be able to update every single month, but I'll try to produce at least 3 chapters (and I hope they have computers I can freely use there...)

Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter! (or just to talk to me cuz I'll be bored over the months xD) Next chapter will start in Menma's pov and the tree-climbing training will end (finally)! Right now we're in the introduction arc. The plot should be picking up in about 2 chapters.

Peace out!


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